Feb

Awareness Programme in Jaipur for Safety of Birds during Makar Sankranti

Jaipur, February 24, 2015: A mock funeral procession of a large model of a bird carcass on the streets of Jaipur is not what the residents of the city are used to. Every nook and corner this funeral procession was taken, curious crowds asked the volunteers what it was all about. The volunteers informed the crowds that this mock procession symbolized the extent of suffering that birds go through to satiate man’s selfish entertainment. This exercise was part of the awareness campaign to inform and educate the people of this beautiful city of how each year thousands of birds die or get injured by the glass coated manjha used to fly kites during Makar Sakranti.

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A mock funeral procession of a model of a bird carcass in Jaipur
Photo: Joy Gardner-RAKSHA/WTI

Each year, Makar-Sakranti is celebrated with lot of enthusiasm in the pink city of India. This traditional festivity in Jaipur proves fatal for thousands of innocent birds that get injured by the glass-coated threads that cuts and entangles to cause fractures, mutilation of wings and fatal nerve injuries. At times, minute glass pieces used in manjha get embedded in birds adding to their misery.

With more kites competing for space with birds, the number of injuries has dramatically risen over the years. What makes matters worse is that people continue to use these strings, totally disregarding the harm they cause to birds. Seeing the gravity of the situation, Charities Aid Foundation India supported Wildlife Trust of India’s Rapid Action Project (RAP) in Jaipur to raise awareness about the use of manjha and its fatal implications on these innocent creatures.

This year, RAP enrolled Raksha, an NGO working for rescue and rehabilitation of birds injured by kite flying during the kite-flying festival in Jaipur. The focus this year was for raising general awareness amongst masses about the ill effects of glass-coated manjha.

“For a fresh start, this year we visited various schools and colleges of Jaipur with the message of helping our feathered friends in distress. We conducted various awareness programmes in Jaipur with the sole aim of reminding the citizens of Jaipur about the mayhem caused by glass-coated manjha. We also lobbied with politicians, religious heads and public figures for this noble cause since their message reaches out to a large audience,” said Joy Gardner, Secretary, Raksha.

Street play being performed as part of the awareness workshop
Photo: Joy Gardner-RAKSHA/WTI

As a run up to the festival, Raksha volunteers conducted silent marches, peace rallies, video screenings, talk shows and presentations to raise awareness amongst the city residents. Students from schools and colleges were encouraged to get involved in the awareness activities and they with their friends took a pledge to make Makar Sankranti safer for birds. These students also performed street plays at strategic locations like temples and other public places to create an impact. A signature campaign was also carried out for people from all walks of life before the day of the festival to help reduce mortality of birds. A demonstration near the high density kite flying zone was also organized by young volunteers of Raksha.

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School children taking part in the signature campaign
Photo: Joy Gardner-RAKSHA/WTI

To ensure that the message of saving birds reaches a large audience, posters, brochures and pamphlets were designed, printed and circulated in large numbers. Posters were also handed over to religious leaders, school/college principals and shop owners who displayed them at their respective places of work. Pamphlets in Hindi and English were distributed outside educational institutions, places of worship, corporate office buildings, bus/auto stands and ten colonies of high density kite-flying areas. A poster depicting the ill effects of kite flying on avifauna and urging general public to observe the time regulations for flying kites and stop the use of glass-coated manjha for flying kites was also released.

To ensure that all NGOs working to save the bird are on the same page, a workshop for the protection of avifauna was conducted by the Raksha team wherein basic techniques of campaigning and advocacy were discussed at length. This workshop also focussed on rescue, species identification, handling, treatment, bird behaviour, transportation, rehabilitation and release.

“It is of critical importance that awareness campaigns like these are encouraged so that people realise how they are killing and maiming these birds in the name of fun. Through this RAP we are just trying to ensure that people are sensitised and know how their passion is wiping out populations of birds in this beautiful city,” said Radhika Bhagat, Head, Wild Aid.