Bird lovers in West Kochi rescued a kite caught in a tangle of nylon twines on a mobile tower at Pandikkudy, near Mattancherry, on Thursday.
The operation which took several hours was led by Mukesh Jain, a popular bird rescuer during the kite-flying season in West Kochi. He said the bird was suffering from exhaustion when it was brought down from a height of 30 metres.
Mr. Jain called on the government to ban twines made of plastic, nylon and those coated with fine glass powder. Such twines, used in kite-flying, hang on to structures such as mobile towers and often trap birds, he said. Cotton twines that wear away in the rains pose no threat to the avian population.
Though the bird was spotted at 6.30 a.m., rescue efforts began only at 3.30 p.m. as permission to climb a coconut tree near the tower was granted late and experts were not at hand. Mr. Jain said birds often got caught in twines during the Onam season when kite-flying reached its peak in West Kochi.
He said he rescued about 30 to 35 birds every year during this season. He, however, said he was not against kite-flying, but against the use of twines that posed a threat to birds and humans.
