People across India are eagerly anticipating the next few days. The birds aren’t.
A spectrum of colours in the form of kites is set to fill the skies as the country gears up to celebrate Makar Sankranti, the harvest festival that marks the end of winter and heralds spring. But the kaleidoscope in the skies eclipses numerous tragedies, as birds mid-flight bear the brunt of the nylon and Chinese manjha (cotton/nylon thread mixed with glue and powdered glass or similar abrasive) used for flying kites.
The result in the skies is fractured wings, lacerations, and neck injuries.
The result on the ground, among people, is injury to the hand tendon, throat, and even death.
While bikers and pillion riders have come up with the idea of neck collars to protect themselves from the villainous string, the birds aren’t as savvy. But a Bengaluru-based NGO, People for Animals (PfA) Wildlife Hospital, has been stepping in with aid.
Turning fallen feathers into lifelines
During Makar Sankranti numerous birds across India battle injuries caused by kite manjha
Throughout the year, across the Vijayanagara and Kengeri areas of Bengaluru, you will see spot collection bins, not for funds, but for feathers. Elaborating on this, Colonel Dr Navaz Shariff, Chief Wildlife Veterinarian at PfA Wildlife Hospital, says the idea is to build a feather bank of sorts.
He shares, “Currently, we have feathers of 32 bird species. Boxes and posters are put up around parks, urging people to drop off any feathers that they find lying on the ground. Once we bring the feathers to the centre, they are segregated, cleaned, vacuumed, and stored exactly like one would store valuables.”
During Makar Sankranti, their use is rampant. This is when Shariff’s work becomes most urgent.
The vet who refused to let birds lose their wings
Shariff is a retired army officer who spent three decades in the Indian army before being posted at the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (2014-2017) as Deputy Inspector General of Police (Veterinary) to set up the training infrastructure. Post-retirement, he dedicated his services to the PfA Wildlife Hospital.
Having spent decades tending to the medical concerns of various animals, right from elephants whose feet were bruised with shards of glass to the army dogs who would get injured in combat, Shariff has seen all kinds of cases.
PfA Wildlife Hospital is one of the only centres in India that is well-versed in the imping technique
He has intended to not just rescue the animal and treat the medical concern, but also to ensure that its quality of life prevails. So, even at PfA Wildlife Hospital, he came up with the imping technique for injured birds.
During Makar Sankranti, as kites are flown across the sky, the manjha causes a menace, becoming stuck in trees, on electric lines, and caught in birds’ feathers as they make their way across the sky. It cuts deep, not just physically into a bird’s body, causing painful lacerations, but also by impeding its freedom.
“When the bird struggles against the manjha, it loses a lot of feathers,” Shariff explains. He continues, “Sometimes, when we reach the site, there are no fractures, but instead, the bird has lost plenty of primary and secondary feathers. It can no longer fly, and if released in that state, feral dogs will get to them.”
Reasoning that one option would be to keep the birds at the centre until the moulting (shedding of feathers and growing of new ones) process happens, Shariff says this would take an average of three to four months. This is where imping helps.
The donor feathers are attached to a receptacle on the injured feather stump
Once anaesthetised, the bird’s feather stump is trimmed until it forms a receptacle. “Then, a donor feather is attached to this receptacle using surgical glue. This is done with both the wings and the tail feathers.”
Shariff adds that this is followed by a flight test after 24 hours. “We always ensure the bird can fly before we release it back into the skies. Until now, all birds that have undergone imping have passed the flight test. In time, the bird’s actual feathers grow, and the ‘imped’ feathers fall off.”
“We started it a couple of years ago and are one of the only places in India doing it,” Shariff says, adding that the technique has worked well for peacocks, crows, black kites, fruit bats, and eagles.
Building a network of care
The challenge is feather procurement. This is where ecological literacy comes into play, with PfA Wildlife Hospital conducting awareness sessions and workshops for students who are taken around the centre to see recovering birds and understand how important rescue and rehabilitation are.
These students also turn into volunteers, often collecting bird feathers and couriering them to PfA Wildlife Hospital, where they are used for imping. These collected feathers go on to serve as donor feathers for injured birds.
Since 1996, the NGO has been working in the area of raising awareness about animal rights, focusing on rescue, clinical care, rehabilitation, and release. As of 31 December 2025, they have facilitated the rescue of over 48,331 urban wild animals spanning 235 different species.
PfA takes care of rescue, clinical care and rehabilitation of birds and other wildlife
Behind these rescues and rehabilitation is a team of expert veterinarians and nursing staff, supported by an array of advanced medical facilities, including a specialised ICU, a surgical unit, a radiography (X-ray) facility, a laser physiotherapy machine, and a quarantine unit.
Giving injured birds a second flight
Over the years, PfA Wildlife Hospital has managed more than 14,800 manjha-related cases. But the concern is, why are there so many cases when, in 2016, the Karnataka government banned the use of manjha for flying kites?
The government then issued an amendment to its notification under Section 5 of the Environment (Protection) Act (EPA), 1986, stating that only cotton thread, which is “free from any sharp, metallic or glass components, adhesives, or any other thread-strengthening materials”, would be allowed for kite flying.
While commending the ban as a valid measure to curb bird injuries, one of the trustees of PfA Wildlife Hospital, Mahalakshmi Parthasarathy, an environmentalist, argues that many openly continue flouting the norm.
The manjha interferes with the bird’s flight path and causes them to get entangled in it, causing injuries and lacerations
“It is heart-wrenching to see the birds, dangling and hopeless. While they have adapted to challenges in their evolving environments, there are still curveballs that they come across, one of which is manjha. They find themselves completely helpless,” Parthasarathy shares.
He adds, “Our rescuers, too, face many challenges, but they continue their work out of pure passion, putting their own lives at risk to save the birds. All of this could be completely avoided if people just did not use manjha.”
This Makar Sankranti, if you spot a bird caught in manjha in Bengaluru, immediately report it to the PfA Wildlife Hospital, even if the bird is at a great height.
Sharing details of a new ingenious technology they have come up with, Shariff says, “We noticed that the birds were often getting stuck at heights of 80 feet to 100 feet. To rescue them, we’d have to approach the fire department (which sometimes did not arrive when they were told it was a bird that was the emergency). Even when they would, often, the fire truck wouldn’t be able to make its way into the narrow alleys where the bird was stuck.”
He continues, “So, we borrowed inspiration from the coconut growers in Kerala and came up with an interlocking pole that can reach up to 120 feet.”
The interlocking pole can reach heights and depths of upto 120 feet to rescue birds
Currently, PfA Wildlife Hospital has five four-wheelers, each equipped with an interlocking pole, which are used to rescue the birds. But the smaller birds that are hard to spot still end up succumbing to the injuries caused by the plastic manjha. This is where the government is dissuading its use.
As Parthasarathy reasons, it isn’t a rebranding of the celebrations that they are calling for. “Chinese and nylon manjha were never our tradition. These aren’t visible in the skies or on trees, and so the birds get stuck in them. Once they get entangled, they try to fight it off and get more entangled. It’s a vicious cycle. Enforcement of the ban would be a welcome step.”
While PfA Wildlife Hospital is trying its best, some injuries are beyond surgical repair. “Some birds will never fly again. Their life is changed forever,” Parthasarathy says. You’re called to do better by the birds.
This Makar Sankranti, if you spot an injured bird in Bengaluru, report it to PfA Wildlife Hospital immediately. Rescue number: +91 99000 25370
All pictures courtesy PfA Wildlife Hospital, Bengaluru
