January ushers in an uber exciting time for all kite flying lovers. While some are novice at the art, others who have mastered it see nothing else but kites in the entire month. This year around, the kite festival, called as Sakranti or Sakrat happens to fall on the 14th of January. Amid the frenzy however, a bad news was slated.
On Thursday, the Jaipur Metro Rail Corporation (JMRC) issued a warning asking residents to fly kites away from the Metro corridor (Chandpole and Mansarovar) to avoid accident as overhead wires carries 25,000 volts round-the-clock. He suggested that any negligence while flying kites, could lead to electrocution near Metro sites.
These live wires are placed at a height of 30 metres In its advisory, the JMRC also furnished cases where casualties in nexus with kite flying have occurred near electrified rail sections in the country.
“Kite flying in the city will get intense from now on and during Makar Sankranti (January 14) the skies will be dotted with a huge variety of kites. Last year , nearly four times metro operation was hindered during the festival. Also, as more than 5000 thousand kites were tangled in the overhead wires , it was a uphill task for JMRC to make operations successful after removing strings from the high voltage lines,” said a senior JMRC official.
The official added, “The high voltage could easily travel through string (Manjha) which contains metallic substance and electrocute the kite flyer. Such incidents have been reported in other part of the country.”
Officials informed that metro stations in the vicinity of Shyam Nagar, Railway station, Sindhi Camp and Chandpole are most vulnerable to electrocution due to close proximity with wired lines.
To bolster the noble thought of safeguarding the lives of humans and natural fauna, the district administration announced a ban on chinese and metallic manjha. To enhance strictness in the decision, the administration also highlighted stringent action towards the violators under the section 188 of IPC.
