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Bird lovers on alert as kite festival begins
The international kite festival started at the Sabarmati riverbank on Wednesday while bird lovers and several NGOs teamed up to rescue the avians which fall prey to threads glued with deadly glass powder.
Inaugurating the kite festival in the presence of Governor Dr Kamala, Chief Minister Narendra Modi said that it has brought Gujarat on the international tourist circuit.
More than 85 kite fliers from 24 countries and 70 others from Indian States have converged to participate in the festival which showcases kites of various types and colours from all over the world.
Though the kites at the international festival would be flown with harmless chords, the use of threads coated with glass powder by the people during these few days spell doom for the birds. Keeping in mind the sordid sights of avians getting entangled in deadly threads of the kites, bird lovers and several NGOs have set up rescue helplines for the next few days when Uttarayan would be celebrated in the State.
Nearely dozen NGOs in the city have publicised helpline numbers which can be informed about birds in distress so that volunteers can rush the injured avians to veterinarians for treatment.
“We have deployed 120 volunteers all over the city to rescue the birds quickly”, Rajesh Panchal of Sanjivani Group told The Pioneer on Wednesday. The Sanjivani Group is one of the many NGOs which have set up helpline numbers for rescue of birds injured by deadly kite threads.
Simultaneously, the city traffic police have also launched an awareness drive to minimise the number of accidents related to kite flying, the most common being throats of two-wheeler riders getting slit by kite threads and speeding vehicles running over children running to catch falling kites.
The international kite festival started at the Sabarmati riverbank on Wednesday while bird lovers and several NGOs teamed up to rescue the avians which fall prey to threads glued with deadly glass powder.
Inaugurating the kite festival in the presence of Governor Dr Kamala, Chief Minister Narendra Modi said that it has brought Gujarat on the international tourist circuit.
More than 85 kite fliers from 24 countries and 70 others from Indian States have converged to participate in the festival which showcases kites of various types and colours from all over the world.
Though the kites at the international festival would be flown with harmless chords, the use of threads coated with glass powder by the people during these few days spell doom for the birds. Keeping in mind the sordid sights of avians getting entangled in deadly threads of the kites, bird lovers and several NGOs have set up rescue helplines for the next few days when Uttarayan would be celebrated in the State.
Nearely dozen NGOs in the city have publicised helpline numbers which can be informed about birds in distress so that volunteers can rush the injured avians to veterinarians for treatment.
“We have deployed 120 volunteers all over the city to rescue the birds quickly”, Rajesh Panchal of Sanjivani Group told The Pioneer on Wednesday. The Sanjivani Group is one of the many NGOs which have set up helpline numbers for rescue of birds injured by deadly kite threads.
Simultaneously, the city traffic police have also launched an awareness drive to minimise the number of accidents related to kite flying, the most common being throats of two-wheeler riders getting slit by kite threads and speeding vehicles running over children running to catch falling kites.
