Pakistan lifts ban on Kite flying for festival

A ban on kite flying in Pakistan’s eastern Punjab province was lifted today after the sport was banned last year following a series of deaths caused by reinforced kite strings.

The ban was lifted about a month ahead of Basant, an annual festival that heralds spring and is marked by flying colourful kites in Punjab and its capital Lahore.

This year’s festival will be celebrated on February 25, said Salman Ghani, the chairman for planning and development department of Punjab.

During last year’s Basant, seven people were killed when they were fatally slashed by glass-coated or metal reinforced kite strings, prompting authorities to ban kite flying and arresting hundreds of kite enthusiasts who defied it.

Among the kite flying fatalities last year was a four-year-old boy whose throat was slit by a low-flying kite string coated with glass as he rode on a motorcycle with his father.

Ghani said that metal or glass coated strings will be banned and authorities will issue licenses for selling kites and strings during this year’s festival.

The ban will be re-imposed after the festival’s final day celebrations, he added.