Rawalpindi police have chalked out a plan to crack down on Basant after the Kite Flying Association announced to celebrate Basant in the garrison city despite a ban.
According to sources, teams have been formed to stop the smuggling of kites and kite strings from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Azad Kashmir. Violators will be traced and arrested with the help of drone cameras.
Around 1,600 policemen would be mobilised to stop kite flying. Police sources said that CPO Syed Shehzad Nadeem Bokhari has formed special teams, equipped with ladders to climb on rooftops, loudspeakers, batons, binoculars and drone cameras, to deal with kite flyers across the city.
The teams will carry out the action on rooftops, and tall buildings in some areas, including Mohanpura, Dhok Rata, Dhok Hasu, Pirwadhai, Railway Colony, Ganj Mandi, Bhabra Bazaar, Naya Mohalla, College Road, Bani, Sadiqabad, Satellite Town, Chah Sultan, Tipu Road, Arya Mohalla and Kartarpura.
Announcements will be made at the mosques to raise awareness about the dangers of kite flying and aerial firing.
The police will use the services of religious scholars of all schools of thought to create awareness among the masses.
Walks will also be organised and pamphlets will be distributed among the residents. Special lectures will be delivered at schools and colleges, the sources said.
The police urged the citizens, especially parents, to discourage the hobby of kite flying among their children and report kite flying and aerial firing on the emergency helpline 15. The names of those reporting kite flying will be kept confidential, they said.
Last year Basant was banned in Rawalpindi, but people challenged the writ of law by celebrating two separate Basant festivals in the cantonment and city areas.
Published in The Express Tribune, January 15th, 2023.
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