Hyderabad: Bhogi, the first day of the harvest festival, will be marked by colourful kites, manjas, rangolis and bonfires on Monday, followed by Sankranti on Tuesday and Kanuma on Wednesday.
The city’s streets are likely to be deserted this Sankranti as thousands have headed back to their native places to celebrate the festival with their families. However, Gulzar House, Dhoolpet, Charminar and many other areas are bustling with activity as people are queuing up to buy manjas and kites for the festival.
This year, the festival will coincide with Milad-Un-Nabi on Tuesday. All government offices and educational institutions will remain closed as a public holiday has been declared. Ambulances and other emergency services have been alerted and are in place to immediately come to the aid of those injured while flying kites.
Animal protection groups are also on guard to save birds from manja-related injuries. Police commissioner, A-nurag Sharma, meanwhile has appealed to parents not to let children fly kites from terraces without parapet walls.
He also asked children not to run on roads or other vulnerable place to collect kites, as they run the risk of being electrocuted while untw-ining kites from electric poles. He also appealed to revelers not to collect wood forcibly for bonfires and only to do so with the consent of owners.
