Lucknow, Feb. 12 -- Taking a tough stand on deaths and injuries due to Chinese Manjha, the Lucknow bench of the Allahabad high court directed the state government to evolve an effective mechanism to prevent such incidents, on Wednesday. It sought a reply from the state government on the measures being taken to ban Chinese Manjha. The court asked the state counsel why state functionaries spring into action only when tragedies occur. A division bench comprising justice Rajan Roy and justice Abdhhesh Kumar Chaudhary also directed that not just the prevention of sale and use of Chinese Manjha, but payment of compensation to victims, including their medical expenses, should be considered by the state government. It also laid emphasis on spreading awareness about hazardous Chinese Manjha. The bench passed the order on a PIL filed in 2018 by a local lawyer ML Yadav, seeking directives for a strict ban on Chinese Manjha, in view of recurring incidents. He filed newspaper reports showing approximately 10 persons injured by Chinese Manjha and some fatalities too. The petitioner also urged the central government to impose a complete ban on the import of Chinese Manjha and requested the state government to prohibit its sale and use across UP. The court had earlier, on September 3, 2024 directed the state government to submit an affidavit through its home and environment departments detailing measures taken to enforce government orders against the use of Chinese manjha. It also asked for a summary of district-level ATRs to assess implementation efforts. In accordance with the order, the state counsel filed a counter affidavit (reply) on Wednesday. Chief standing counsel for the state government Shailendra Kumar Singh informed the court that the state has taken action in the matter and issued orders recently to prevent the sale and use of the Chinese Manjha. He informed the court that the Manjha has no connection with China and it is a synthetic fabric made with Nylon and other substances, which is hazardous. The court asked the counsel why state functionaries spring into action, when people get injured or die due to Chinese Manjha. In this regard, the court directed the state government to evolve a proper mechanism to prevent such incidents. It directed to list the matter on March 11 on top priority for further hearing.htc...