Maanja kills birds in Lalbagh

by November 15, 2010 Environment

The second instance I saw birds getting entangled in kite thread and dying, and the officials are yet to look into preventing this disaster.

A crow, caught in the maanja. Pic: Saandip N G.

I witnessed murder of my avian friends in Lalbagh, near the Glass House on Sunday morning. The culprit? A manja daara is a thread used for flying kites. This is very strong and is smeared with fine powered glass to increase its strength.

Everyone present witnessed the birds being killed. Even the horticulture department workers inside Lalbagh ignored it and shook their heads as if it not of any concern to them.

This is the second time I am noticing, unattended kite threads passing through many trees in Lalbagh. The birds get entangled in this thread and die.  I saw a myna which had got caught, it was still alive and was calling out in distress, but sadly it invited crows that helped end its life.

Lalbagh Botanical Garden is located in the heart of Bangalore city – an institution of botanical and environmental importance, also an important lung space of Bangalore.

A myna, caught in the maanja. Pic: Saandip N G.

I urge the authorities to take necessary action to clear the unattended manja threads immediately so that the many migratory birds are not affected.

⊕

Sections:

About Saandip N G

Read more by Saandip N G

Comments:

  1. Deepa Mohan says:
    November 16, 2010 at 9:39 am

    Excellent documentation of a problem which many of us are not aware of, and some of us ignore. What can be done about this, I wonder?

    Reply

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Similar Story

Panje wetlands: Greens continue their fight against all odds

by December 16, 2024 Environment
Despite a long struggle by environmentalists, the Panje wetlands in Uran are drying up. A look at the reasons for this and what activists face.

“Panchhi nadiya pawan ke jhonke, koi sarhad na inhe roke…”  (Birds can fly where they want/ water can take its course/ the wind blows in every direction/ no barrier can stop them) — thus go the Javed Akhtar penned lyrics of the song from the movie Refugee (2000, J. P Dutta). As I read about the Panje wetlands in Uran, I wondered if these lyrics hold true today, when human interference is wreaking such havoc on natural environments, and keeping these very elements out. But then, I also wondered if I should refer to Panje, a 289-hectare inter-tidal zone, as…

Continue reading

Similar Story

Bengaluru’s climate challenge: How the city can reduce its carbon footprint

by December 13, 2024 Environment
Bengaluru's high carbon dioxide emissions can be reduced by promoting public transport in the city and enhancing energy efficiency.

Global carbon dioxide emissions continue to soar despite climate agreements like Kyoto and Paris. Should this be the path we tread? Since the Kyoto Protocol was signed in 1997, annual carbon dioxide emissions have surged by an average of 1.7%. This is in stark contrast to the 0.9% increase seen in the seven years prior (1990-1997) to the signing of the Kyoto Protocol. The exclusion of the world's biggest polluters — United States, China and India — is the primary cause of the failure of the Kyoto Agreement. Vehicular emissions contribute significantly to air pollution in Bengaluru. Pic: Jyothi Gupta…

Continue reading