In a verbal direction, all voluntary animal care and non-government organisations working under the ‘Karuna Abhiyan’ has been banned by the Animal Husbandry department of the state government to operate in residential areas during the Uttarayan festival this year.
The main reason for government’s regulation is the practice of using harsh thread for kite flying during the festival which poses a threat to the birds. More than 10,000 birds including sparrows, pigeons, parrots, vultures, peacocks and migratory birds are injured every year in Ahmedabad alone.
The Jivdaya Charitable Trust (JCT), an animal welfare NGO, attended to 2,394 injured birds in Ahmedabad, the heartland of the kite flying festival, in the Indian state of Gujarat around this time last year. Of these, 490 died.
Sherwin Everett, a volunteer with JCT, said casualties of the kite-flying season started trickling in from November. Just days ago the NGO rescued a bar headed goose with cuts on its wings and fractured legs. The migratory bird is among the world’s highest flying birds and crosses the Himalayas to spend winter in India.
The injuries are caused by ‘manja’, the string used to fly kites. Gummed and coated with powdered glass, the strings are made dangerously sharp to slash the thread of an opponent’s kite mid-air during kite fights.
Birds fly into these strings or are entangled in them, causing deep cuts to their wings, nerve injuries, fractures, dislocations and, in many cases, death.
So grave is the crisis that even the Wildlife Trust of India’s Emergengy Rescue Network which responds to natural disasters like cyclones and floods, views the kite festival as a man-made disaster.
To restrain the situation, more than 40 organisations have been working together for the treatment of the birds. These organisations have been operating under the Ahmedabad forest department for the last one decade.
However, also citing the high bird flu incidence (outbreak of the avian influenza (H5N1) in Ahmedabad) of January 2017, the government has restricted the activities of the organizations.
The first outbreak was reported from Asha Foundation, an animal and bird shelter on the outskirts of Ahmedabad on January 2, followed by another on January 12 at the Sarva Dharma Rakshak Seva Trust shelter in Memnagar area.
To avoid relapse of such instances, the Gujarat High Court had ordered, “Even during Uttarayan festival or at any time, if any application is given either by non-government organisations or any individual to hold camps for treating birds, the respondent authorities shall not grant any permission for holding such camps within the residential areas. However, it is made clear that such applications be considered on their own merits for holding camps at appropriate and suitable places away from the residential areas.”
Two animal shelters — Asha Foundation and Jeev Daya Charitable Trust — have been authorised to conduct the follow-up of injured birds after treatment at seven care centres in Ahmedabad.
Trustee of Jeev Daya Foundation, Ahmedabad Raju Shastri said, “Even as a human gesture, one would give preliminary treatment to an injured bird or animal at the nearest care center, but with this ban precious time will be lost in the transit. For instance, for a big city like Ahmedabad, the government has identified seven places where injured birds can be taken and treated. There should be some alternative.”
Chief conservator of forests, North Gujarat Wildlife Circle, Mahesh Singh said, “The department has activated all veterinary hospitals at the taluka and district level. Around 275 such hospitals are covered under this order for Uttarayan festival. Also, health and rescue centers are operating in the state at major cities.”
However, the NGOs have maintained that these alternate measures will not serve the purpose since there are a limited number of transit service vehicles catering to big cities.
