Congress for action against defaulters, demands innovation to end Chinese manjha row

New Delhi: Asserting that action should be taken against those responsible for the delay behind implementation of the Chinese manjha ban, the Congress on Wednesday said that the Delhi Government should carry out an extensive research and come out with an innovation to address this concern.

Dubbing the incident as heart wrenching, Congress spokesperson Sandeep Dikshit condoled the loss of lives.

"The manjha issue has come up many times. Flying kites in the month of August and especially on 15th August. The incident which took place is heart wrenching and I would like to express my grief. Now, whether it was Chinese manjha or not that the government would know. But the point is that if it was banned in advance and if delay was made in implementation of the rule then action must be taken against the defaulters," said Dikshit.

"I would also appeal to the government that it should check all kinds of manjhas and try and hatch a way out and come up with some safer kind of manjha," he added.

Following the loss of lives in the national capital, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal-led government put a ban on the sale, production and storage of glass-coated threads or Chinese manjha.

A blame game has begun after kite strings claimed three lives earlier on Monday with Delhi`s Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia accusing Environment Secretary Chandraker Bharti of taking seven days to clear a notification.Sisodia also wrote to Lieutenant Governor Najeeb Jung seeking action against the Environment Secretary for `gross negligence in duty and insensitiveness in Chinese manja case`.

"Environment Secretary took 7days to issue notification though file was cleared by my & Env Minster`s office within minutes on 9th Aug," Sisodia tweeted."Chinese manja and other kite flying thread which is made of glass, sharp material is dangerous. Safety of our citizens is non-negotiable," he said in a series of tweets.

The Lieutenant Governor`s office has, however, according to reports said that Jung had approved the draft notification on August 8 and sent it back to the government the next day while accusing the ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) of delaying issuance of the draft notification despite the fact that he had sent the notification with his approval to the Environment Department on August 9.

According to the draft notification issued by the Environment Secretary, kite flying will be permissible only with a cotton thread and natural fibre free from any metallic and glass components.Violation of directions will be punishable with an imprisonment of up to five years or fine which may be extended to Rs. one lakh or with both.