The Bareilly cotton manja industry shrank rapidly with the arrival of Chinese manja in 2011

The Delhi government’s decision to ban Chinese manja has come as welcome news for many in what was once known as the “manja city”.

Bareilly has been the traditional centre for manufacture of the world-famous cotton strings for kite flying. In fact, it is an over 200-year-old traditional business for many here. With the arrival of Chinese manja, which is made of fine nylon, in 2011, the industry began to shrink rapidly. It became difficult for workers engaged in making of cotton manja to make ends meet.

However, they now see a ray of hope in Delhi, once a major buyer of cotton manja. This, as the Aam Aadmi Party government told the Delhi High Court that it has decided to ban the nylon string, colloquially called Chinese manja, due to a number of fatal accidents. Chinese manja is not from imported from China, but made by two-three companies in Bengaluru and Noida.

Mohammad Aamir, a Bareilly-based manja manufacturer, said: “In just five -six years, Chinese manja dented the cotton manja market. Bareilly ki dor ab utni bikti hi nahi [The Bareilly-made string is no longer sold as much anymore]. There is a difference of at least Rs.700 between the two. While 12 reels of cotton manja cost about Rs.1,100 and above depending on the quality, 12 reels of Chinese manja cost just about Rs.300.”

He added: “Chinese manja is much cheaper and does not break easily as it is made of nylon. It is actually the type of string used in fishing. The string is coated with chemicals to make it tougher and sharper so that it does not break easily. That is why all those freak accidents — including the one of the biker whose throat got slit — are caused by nylon manja. Before its arrival, we had never heard of such accidents. Cotton manja is made from rice flour and a mix of desi masalas and breaks easily.”

Mr. Aamir explained that cotton manja is laced with powdered glass to make it sharp, but even that breaks more easily compared to Chinese manja.

Stressing on the death of a child whose throat got slit by Chinese manja while travelling on a two-wheeler with his father, he said: “Those who fear the almighty will not deal in Chinese manja. We are aware of the case initiated by a person for ban on Chinese manja, which is already banned in Bengaluru, Andhra Pradesh, etc.”

A kite-maker from Bareilly said: “The general image is that products from China are cheap, like Chinese toys, bags, etc. When the nylon manja arrived in 2011, it was much cheaper than handmade cotton strings and thus people started calling it Chinese manja.”

With Independence Day round the corner, Nawab, a kite dealer based in Lal Kuan, Old Delhi, is busy selling Chinese manja and kites these days.

“I do sell Chinese manja in huge numbers, but there is no doubt that the cotton manja from Bareilly remains unmatched,” he added.

Meanwhile, an all-India kite flying champion too supported the call for ban on Chinese manja.

Sunil Gupta, a member of the city’s oldest kite flying club, the Union Kite Club, said the use of Chinese manja is banned in every kite-flying competition across India. All competitors use cotton strings made in Bareilly.

“Chinese manja should be banned. We have been flying kite for decades now. The wounds and cuts we get from cotton strings heal on their own in two-three days, but those from Chinese manja take a lot of time and are extremely painful. The Bareilly cotton strings are handmade, hence expensive. But they are far superior. However, they are not selling since the arrival of nylon manja,” added Mr. Gupta, who is also a kite-maker.