South Central Railway issues advisory against kite flying near railway tracks during Makar Sankranti

Hyderabad (Telangana) [India], January 2 (ANI): An advisory was issued to avoid flying kites near Railway stations, yards and railway tracks ahead of the Makar Sankranti festival. South Central Railway CPRO, A Sridhar said that if the kite entangles with the railway overhead equipment and the thread is wet then the people holding it might get electrocuted.
South Central Railway CPRO, A. Sridhar says, "This is more so important during the upcoming festival of Makar Sankranti. This is very dangerous because the kite entangles with the railway overhead equipment, particularly which is charged with 25 kW because sometimes the thread is wet and people holding it might get electrocuted. If the thread gets entangled with the pantograph of the railway engine then the train running also gets disturbed. It will hamper traffic also. When people want to get their kites back when they approach the track, they may suffer shock and hamper train running."
He further said that the general public should not come near the track or overhead equipment.
"In view of this, we want to request the public that this should be taken seriously and even kids should be made aware about the precautions. Last year in Secunderabad division about 750 cases of threads being entangled have surfaced."
Makar Sankranti marks the beginning of summer which is greeted by the population spending the day on their roofs, flying kites, and trying to cut each other's strings. The kite festival is observed on Uttarayan which marks the transition of the sun to Makara rashi (Capricorn) from the dhanu rashi (Sagittarius). It is said that the northward journey of the sun (Uttarayan) begins on this day, making the celebrations quite auspicious.
This is a Hindu festival that marks the transition of the sun into the zodiac sign of Capricorn (Makara) on its celestial path. It usually takes place on January 14th or 15th. (ANI)