Ban On Kite-Flying: Another year without Basant

LAHORE: The provincial government decided on Tuesday not to lift the ban on kite flying.

Parks and Horticulture Authority (PHA) director general Muhammad Mehmood told The Express Tribune that the plan had been dropped.

Last week, the PHA had proposed two plans for allowing kite flying in celebration of Basant.

The first proposal was to allow kite flying at Jalo Park and Lahore Safari Park on April 13 and April 14. The second proposed that the ban on kite-flying be lifted for two days, April 20 and April 21.

For this, Section 144 on driving motorcycles without wooden strips or metal wires (antennas) had been suggested to reduce injuries related to kite flying.

Free ‘antennas’ would also have been distributed to the citizens for their protection, had the second proposal been accepted. Both plans, however, were opposed by Pakistan Peoples Party Punjab as well as several officials citing hazards for citizens.

Also on April 5, a fourth-grader in pursuit of a stray kite lost his life on Habibullah Road. PHA has said a spring festival, Bahar Rut, would be arranged from April 17 to April 21 instead of Basant.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 10^th, 2013.