Hyderabad: A day after Chinese manja was banned by the Telangana state government, it was business as usual across the city, as kite shops sold many spools of the manja.
The decision to ban the procuring, stocking, sale and use of Chinese manja — a nylon thread coated with powdered glass — came just a day before Sankranti.
Kite shop owners had already procured the manja at least two months prior to the festival. Maharashtra and Gujarat had banned Chinese manja way back in 2010.
At some places in the city, police personnel did try to implement the ban by seizing some spools of Chinese manja from stores, leaving the shop owners irked.
The Gulzar Houz market near Charminar, a central destination for kites and manja, was brimming on Thursday with people from various parts of the city buying kites as well as Chinese manja.
The owner of a famous kite shop in the market said, “Chinese manja ruled the roost for 3 or 4 years and ate into the business of local manja made with cotton threads, and Bareilly manja.”
He said his store had stocked Chinese and Bareilly manja two months ago. “Today the police took away some of our Chinese manja. How can the government impose a ban a day before the festival?”
Mr Shantanu Agarwal, who had come to buy kites and manja, said, “The traditional manja can cut a thread only if it is given dheel but with Chinese manja one can just pull to cut the rival kite.”
