Bareilly bans sale of Chinese manja

Chinese 'manja', strings used to fly kites, were today banned in Bareilly due to safety and other reasons even as Centre contemplates to prohibit its sale across the country.
The ban on the Chinese kite string has been ordered by Bareilly's Divisional Commissioner K Ravindra Naik.
"The Chinese Manjha has been banned in the division and all the district magistrates have been asked to implement the ban," he said.
Acting on the directive, District Magistrate Sanjay Kumar has constituted a team to implement the ban and launch a crackdown on those selling it.
Bareilly is among the largest kite string markets in the country.

Union Minister of State for Textiles Santosh Kumar Gangwar had recently raised the issue and asked for a ban on its imports owing to concerns that the domestic small manufacturers in Bareilly were being affected due to its sale.
He also raised safety concerns claiming that the Chinese string was not electric shock proof and could lead to cuts.
Gangwar has also written a letter to Commerce Minister Nirmala Sitharaman for the same and said that the nylon kite string from China is non-biodegradable and has rendered thousands of people in the country jobless in this labour-intensive industry.