TN govt orders blanket ban on manja threads, violators to be penalised under Environment Act

According to a statement issued by Supriya Sahu, additional chief secretary, Environment, Climate Change and Forest Department, an order to this effect was issued by the government on October 6, 2023 which was further notified in the Tamil Nadu Government Gazette on October 30.

Sahu took to X (formerly Twitter) on Tuesday to share the gazette notification and wrote that the initiative is a big step towards preventing injury and sometimes even death of people, animals and especially birds during kite flying competitions or otherwise.

“These plastic coated manjha threads also cause severe environmental degradation by choking drainage lines and water bodies,” she wrote.

Plastic coated, synthetic Manjha thread is deadly for birds, animals and also for people. Government of Tamil Nadu has brought a complete ban on the manufacture, sale, storage, purchase, supply, import and use of Manjha threads/ kite flying threads made out of nylon, plastic or… pic.twitter.com/nPkx3Ce03T

— Supriya Sahu IAS (@supriyasahuias) October 31, 2023

The order issued by the government authorises all district collectors, officers of the rank of forest range officers and above in the forest department, officers of the rank of sub-inspectors and above in the state police department and commissioners of the corporations, municipalities and officers of the local bodies to take action against people flouting the ban.

Those found violating the ban shall be subjected to legal action under the provisions of the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986 (Central Act 29 of 1986).