Every year, hundreds of people across the country enjoy the kite festival but many do not realise how the tough strings cause harm to innumerable birds in the sky.
In an effort to rescue birds those suffer fatal injuries, an NGO -- Team Prayas -- has set up temporary camps in Surat, Gujarat, while adhering to COVID-19 and bird flu protocols.
About 500 volunteers and rescuers have been trained to follow protocol and bird handling is done while wearing PPE kits, masks and gloves.
The NGO claimed that as compared to the previous year, the cases of bird injury have decreased by 25 per cent, owing to continuous education especially to the school children.
On the day of Uttarayan (Makar Sankranti), where kites are widely flown, about 100 calls were received by the team. The NGO workers had set up camps in 70 different areas across the city to help save the birds.
"We have taken all precautionary measures due to COVID-19 and bird flu protocols. We are being very careful. In Surat, crows, owls and pigeons are the most common victims of Manja (kite string). In a lot of places, we found birds injured by the banned Chinese Manja as well, despite the ban by the government," Darshan Desai, a volunteer told .
"It is good news that injuries have reduced this year by 25 per cent, but we are still working to bring bird injuries down further," he added.
( With inputs from ANI )
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