Five years after the National Green Tribunal (NGT) slapped a nationwide ban on synthetic-glassed thread (manja), the prohibited goods is still being hawked, listed online, and peddled surreptitiously. On July 11, 2017, the NGT called for the ban to be enforced by Chief Secretaries of the states and directed the Union of India to “ban import of any synthetic manja/nylon thread or similar thread coated with synthetic substances”.
The manja, commonly called Chinese manja, is not listed either as a prohibited goods or restricted goods by the Directorate General of Foreign Trade. It is this gap that the importers are filling in. Glassed thread and kites are coming into the country under Harmonised System of Nomenclature (HSN) code 95059090.
“As per policy, there is no restriction or prohibition on import of the item,” informed a DGFT official in Hyderabad after verifying the code. The HSN code implies it is ‘Festive, Carnival Or Other Entertainment Articles, Including Conjuring Tricks And Novelty Jokes’. Data on the Department of Commerce website shows that in 2022 goods, a chunk of its reels of thread, worth ₹121.96 crore came into the country logging a healthy 18.65% growth.
Some of it is being hawked in the black market. Dhoolpet earned notoriety with bootleg liquor known as gudumba before the State government tweaked its excise policy, bringing down the price of country liquor, pushing out the bootleggers. Now, it is Chinese manja that is being sold in the black market.
“Even if there is a ban on imports, the local industries are manufacturing similar stuff but at a higher price. All youngsters ask for that,” says Kushal Singh, a wholesale dealer, who is now using a motorised roller to fill charaks (bobbins).
The street between Purana Pul and Bhoiguda kaman (a three km stretch) is a riot of colour with kites and colourful reels of string hanging on doorframes of dozens of shops. “Most of the shops are wholesale dealers that are functioning for the past one month. There is a huge demand as business in the last two years was not so good. There are 280 shops on this stretch,” said Abhishek Singh, a wholesale dealer. “The older people ask for manja, the young people wantthangoos(Chinese manja) that we are not stocking as there huge penalties if caught,” he says. He informs about a stockist who was busted with 100 cartons of Chinese manja.
“The Chinese manja is still available on the sly. We are asking people not to fly the kites in the early morning or evening. And to remove the used waste threads and other material once the flying session is over,” says S. Bhandari, a jeweller running a campaign on the ill-effects of the manja. “Earlier, the Forest department was involved when we raided these shops. Now only police is raiding and seizing material,” says Mr. Bhandari whose team has rescued 17 birds this season.
One of the biggest wholesalers in the city is Balaji Patang Company which gets its stock from across the country. “We are out of stock. We have only the Surati manja. While a reel of the Surati manja costs ₹1,100, a smaller reel wound around a plastic bobbin costs ₹280. This is made locally and is in great demand,” says Prabhakar Singh sitting in his shop that was started by his grandfather.
The kites, including the one with RRR and NTR’s photograph, are from Kanpur. Only the colourful paper kites with exquisite craftsmanship are made locally. “All the manja is from outside. There are no manja makers in the city who can meet demands of quality and quantity,” he says.
