Cuttack: In the wake of the death of a six-year old girl due to utter carelessness of kite flyers, the district administration on Wednesday banned the use and sale of glass-coated strings known as 'Manja' for kite flying.
The ban was imposed following the views of intellectuals at a civil society meeting held today, Cuttack collector Nirmal Chandra Mishra said.
"The members of civil society were for curbing the use of glass powder coated nylon string that causes such mishaps. So, we decided to ban the sale and use of such strings (manja) for kite flying", Collector said.
"A special squad will be formed, which will keep a close watch on the sale and preparation of 'Manja' string at various places in the city from tomorrow," Mishra added.
School and college teachers have been asked to sensitise the students not to fly kites on rooftops or in roads passing through busy localities and marketplaces, the collector pointed out.
A five-year old girl named Swetalina Behera was killed two days ago after her throat got slit by the sharp kite string.
The accident took place while she was riding pillion with her father. The string got entangled around her neck and she started screaming in pain. As her father stopped the bike, he found that the girl had sustained deep injuries on her throat and was bleeding profusely.
She was rushed to a nearby private hospital where doctors declared her brought dead. Her father also sustained injuries in the mishap.
Notably, a series of accidents caused by 'manja' thread used for kite flying have been reported in the city in the recent past, sources said.
'Manja' is a kite string made of glass and copper pieces besides other materials and used by avid kite fliers to cut each other's kite during sporting duel, a feature of Makar Sankranti celebrations.