Cheap but claiming lives: Banned Chinese manjha keeps killing edge

Lives hang by a thread as the so-called Chinese manjha spares neither man nor animal, flying high on kite fliers' competitive spirit and traders' pursuit of profit

Three years ago, Monika Sharma and her sister Sneha lost their brother on the day of Raksha Bandhan, the festival that celebrates the bond between brothers and sisters.

That day, their older brother Manav, a civil engineer, was driving a scooty from their home in Budh Vihar to their aunt’s house in Hari Nagar. Monika and Sneha were riding pillion. The kite flying season, which peaks on Independence Day, had set in and the manjha of a stray kite got entwined around Manav’s neck.

It was synthetic manjha, made of glass-coated monofilament fishing lines. It is meant to give kite