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Festivals of Kites brought cuts and accident along with joy

By - Preeti Dalal
Update: 2024-01-15 09:26 GMT
The whole nation is celebrating Uttrayan since January 14 and continuing on January 15. This day is special for those who love to fly kites. The state of Gujarat celebrated Uttrayan on a large scale, with people flying kites alongside friends and families on their terraces and grounds. In addition to flying kites, people also indulge in enjoying Gujarati dishes such as Undhiyo, Dhokla, etc.

Accidents and Cuts

Over the years, flying kites on Uttrayan has become synonymous with accidents and cuts. The primary reason is the use of sharp threads for flying kites, which are capable of cutting even the throats of people riding two-wheelers. Consequently, Gujaratis have started using a metal wire installed in front of their vehicles to protect themselves from kite threats that may be flying freely in the air. Kites that are cut are often entangled in trees and buildings, and their threads hang on the road either freely or caught in something. Since these threads contain glass, they are extremely sharp, leading to incidents of strangulation and throat cutting. [caption id="" data-align="aligncenter" data-width="700"]
Metal Wire for protection from kite Threat cut[/caption]

Birds Strangulated to Death

While flying kites is fundamentally a harmless sport, it leads to injuries and deaths due to the material used for Manjha, which is sharp enough to cut the skin of not only humans but also animals and birds. Every year, birds suffer from cuts caused by Manjha during Uttrayan. Sometimes, these threads also strangle birds, suffocating them to death or causing severe injuries. [caption id="" data-align="aligncenter" data-width="576"]
A pigeon strangulated in kite threat[/caption]

Numbers of Accidents

The state of Gujarat alone witnessed a 24.05% increase in the number of emergencies on January 14. A total of 4476 emergencies were reported compared to the usual 3609 on normal days. The number of road traffic accidents also saw a sharp increase, rising from 424 on normal days to 911 on January 14. Cases caused by falling from two-wheelers increased from 184 to 364 on January 14. Additionally, crush injuries amounted to 117, compared to the usual 10 on normal days, attributed to kite threats.
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