To capitalize on the kite flying craze during Sankranti festival, some errant traders are making fast money by selling synthetic kite string with banned manjha, glass and metal powder in several small and big towns of the erstwhile mixed Khammam district.
Despite the ban on the sale of synthetic/glass-coated manja, these traders continue to sell manja regardless of the danger posed by powdered glass-coated synthetic kite strings to humans and birds as well as the environment.
There is a constant demand from various quarters to take forward the awareness and enforcement campaign against the sale of banned Manjha.
Meanwhile, some volunteers engaged in environmental protection have started an awareness campaign in the coal town of Kothagudem by circulating posters issued earlier by the government on the ban on synthetic/glass-coated manjha and its ill effects.
According to sources, the volunteers sought the cooperation of the Singareni Collieries Company Limited (SCCL) and the concerned officials of the Forest Department in spreading awareness against the banned Manjha.