Manja (or manjha) (IPA: /maːŋdʒʱaː/) is an abrasive string used to fly

fighter kite Fighter kites are kites used for the sport of kite fighting. Traditionally most are small, unstable single-line flat kites where line tension alone is used for control, at least part of which is manja, typically glass-coated cotton strands, ...

s, mainly in South Asian countries. Made when a cotton string is coated with powdered glass or a similar abrasive.

Composition

Traditionally, it is made on fine pure cotton thread coated with a mixture of rice glue, tree gums or similar natural ingredients and finely powdered glass, aluminum oxide or

zirconia alumina Zirconia alumina is commonly used as a sand-blasting medium. It is typically used as an abrasive in casting and foundry processes. Zirconia alumina is a mixture of zirconium dioxide Zirconium dioxide (), sometimes known as zirconia (not to be c ...

for the abrasive. A relatively recent introduction, China manja, is based on non biodegradable

synthetic fibers Synthetic fibers or synthetic fibres (in British English; see spelling differences) are fibers made by humans through chemical synthesis, as opposed to natural fibers that are directly derived from living organisms, such as plants (like cotton) ...

Safety

Rooftop falling

People often fly the kites from rooftops, which poses risks to their safety.

Kite runners

In some places, kite runners pursue kites to retrieve them without paying attention to the surrounding, causing accidents.

Bystanders injury

Many reports of motorcyclists and others having their throats cut by manja - especially when driving through hanging strings.

Threat to birds

It is also responsible for injuries to birds. A pair of volunteer bird medics in New Delhi care for about 1,000

black kite The black kite (''Milvus migrans'') is a medium-sized bird of prey in the family Accipitridae, which also includes many other diurnal raptors. It is thought to be the world's most abundant species of Accipitridae, although some populations have ...

s each year, 90% of which are injured by manja and half of which die. At the Uttarayan festival, veterinarians had to repeatedly respond to situations where birds had been injured.

Ban

India

Several attempts were initiated by government and authorities but none are seem to be successful.

Pakistan

It was banned in

Lahore Lahore ( ; pnb, ; ur, ) is the second most populous city in Pakistan after Karachi and 26th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 13 million. It is the capital of the province of Punjab where it is the largest city. ...

since 2006.{{Cite web , date=2006-03-12 , title=Pakistan cracks down on lethal 'kite duels' , url=https://www.nytimes.com/2006/03/12/world/asia/pakistan-cracks-down-on-lethal-kite-duels.html , access-date=2023-12-08 , website=

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

References

Kites