Just days after Hyderabad’s citizens came together to rescue a dog that was stuck between two buildings, a group of animal lovers again came together at Secunderabad’s Picket Park in Secunderabad, where a kite was found dangling by a manja atop a peepal tree. Members of the group scaled the tree and successfully freed the bird, which was hanging by the manja for five days.
Sridhar, the park’s watchman, alerted the members of the People for Animals (PFA) about the animal in peril. Panneeru Teja, a familiar face among animal lovers in Hyderabad, and his brother Prudhvi rushed to the spot.
“We tried our best to bring the bird down, but our efforts were in vain. The tree was 40-50 feet tall with no supporting branches. We thought about climbing the tree, but we knew it was dangerous, considering its height. We then decided to call the fire services department into the park,” Teja says.
The bird made many attempts, but sadly, it could only flap its wings as its legs were tied entangled in the manja.
Fire services came to the spot quickly, but they couldn’t get into the park beyond a spot. “The tree was in the middle of the park and the fire service couldn’t make their way inside. That’s when we decided to pull up our socks and get into action,” says Teja.
A day passed, but they were still hopeful. Another member of the group, Karunasagar, brought in more people, and it became a community effort to save the kite, which hadn’t had food or water for five days.
“Now, our final resort was to tie stones and sticks to a gunny rope and bring the bird down along with the manja. All of us took turns and threw the rope high. Every time we failed, we were only more determined to rescue the bird. Finally, after a zillion attempts, the rope stuck to the manja and we pulled the bird down,” Teja explains.
After attempting to rescue the bird for two days, the bird was finally free, but was barely able to fly and was dehydrated and exhausted. In a video that has now gone viral, members of PFA can be seen cutting the manja tied to its legs. After that, they fed it water and chicken, and after some time, the bird happily flew away.
“What made us the happiest were the tiny children who joined us in our efforts. They were really enthusiastic and it’s nice to see children being sensitive to their surroundings,” he says.
“All's well that ends well,” he adds.
In 2017, the National Green Tribunal banned manjas made of nylon, cotton manjas coated with powdered glass, or manjas made of any non-biodegradable synthetic material.
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