Kite Flyers cause damage to Lucknow Metro corridor

LUCKNOW: UPMRC has been making regular appeals urging people to not fly kites near Metro corridor ever since the commencement of metro rail operations. It is now observed that kite flying has become rampant in past few days during lockdown and heavy kite flying activities have been observed in Nishatganj, Badshah Nagar, IT Chowraha, Parivartan Chowk & Alambagh, areas which lie in close vicinity of Metro corridor.

The kites being used in these area have a attached long steel wire knit like a barbed wire with very sharp hook at every six inches in addition to Chinese string (manjha) which is even more dangerous. These have caused short-circuiting of live 25000 volt Metro Over-head Power Supply wires thereby causing serious damage to the Metro property and at the same time putting their own lives at risk. It may be noted that Hon’ble High Court of Judicature at Allahabad has banned sale of Chinese manjha in Uttar Pradesh in November 2015 against a PIL due to several incidences of passengers getting severely injured due to neck and eye injury and injury to birds & animals. Subsequently National Green Tribunal has also banned sales of Chinese manjha for some period.

In a recent and highly worrisome incident on 2nd April, OHE (Over Head Electrification) of Lucknow Metro near Badshahnagar has been seriously damaged by these long steel wire/ Chinese manjha of kites flying near Metro corridor causing snapping of wire. Lucknow Metro team in a special drive has repaired the system in the night and removed very large number of such wires and kites from OHE. Photographs attached show horrific images of the magnitude of such irresponsible incidents by kite-flyers in the ongoing lock-down situation during COVID-19 pandemic.

It somewhere shows that people are not abiding by Social Distancing guidelines issued by the Government for our own and society’s safety in these critical times when a complete lock-down is imposed to contain spread of Corona virus and people are expected not to even come out of their houses. The fight against Corona virus is a collective battle that we all need to win and social distancing and staying at home is the only solution that can prevent the spread of this global pandemic.

Although Metro services are presently closed for Public Transport, it has been instructed by Government to be in ready state in hot standby mode to run the services on short notice. Lucknow Metro is therefore maintaining all the required systems including the OHE in energized condition and kite flying near Metro corridor may also prove fatal to the kite flyer.

UPMRC has registered FIR for the recent breakdown due to kite flying with Police to safe guard the system. UPMRC again appeals to everyone to follow the instructions & guidelines of the Government during lockdown to contain the spread of novel Corona virus (COVID-19) and protect Metro from any harm.

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