LAHORE: In a significant coverage shift, the Punjab authorities on Wednesday introduced that it has no plans to have fun the Basant pageant throughout the province and that it’ll as a substitute be celebrated solely in Lahore.
Basant is returning to Lahore after 18 years, following the passage of the Punjab Regulation of Kite Flying Invoice, 2025 by the provincial meeting on December 24.
Up to now, solely the Lahore deputy commissioner has notified the three-day pageant beginning on February 6, 2026, whereas deputy commissioners in different districts have been anticipated to observe go well with.
Nevertheless, the forty sixth Cupboard Committee on Regulation and Order — chaired by Khawaja Salman Rafique — met on the Punjab Residence Division at this time and famous that Basant can be celebrated solely in Lahore and on a restricted scale.
Though there was no want for all divisional commissioners and deputy commissioners to be current on the assembly, sources within the Residence Division advised Daybreak that they have been specifically invited to attend through video hyperlink, significantly for the “Basant agenda”.
Punjab Residence Secretary Dr Ahmad Javed Qazi advised the cupboard committee assembly, “The provincial cupboard had allowed restricted Basant on February 6, 7 and eight in Lahore solely,” including that kite-flying would stay fully banned elsewhere within the province underneath the Punjab Regulation of Kite Flying Invoice, 2025.
A divisional commissioner, on the situation of anonymity, advised Daybreak that an official knowledgeable the assembly that Basant wouldn’t be allowed throughout the district.
The Residence Division had held a number of conferences on the revival of Basant and mentioned permitting the pageant at particular areas or at specifically notified rooftops, each within the Walled Metropolis and elsewhere within the district.
The division had additionally instructed all divisional commissioners and deputy commissioners to begin registering twine and kite producers forward of Basant.
In the meantime, the divisional commissioner stated the federal government was piloting Basant in Lahore, calling it a possibility for residents to show accountability and adherence to directions, a transfer that would result in the pageant’s revival on a bigger scale.
“Folks ought to watch their neighborhoods and make sure that no illegality is dedicated and that nobody is injured… in the very best curiosity of the Basant pageant,” he stated.
Expressing apprehension, the commissioner famous that any critical accident through the pageant may result in Basant being banned for good.
Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz directed buses and rickshaws on metropolis roads to supply free rides and reduce the usage of bikes in Lahore. The federal government could make use of buses from metropolis faculties and universities through the three-day pageant.
Ultimately, the Residence Division wrote to all commissioners, deputy commissioners, and senior cops within the province relating to incidents of kite flying and accidents attributable to stray kite twines on Wednesday, in search of motion in opposition to these concerned within the exercise in violation of the Punjab Regulation of Kite Flying Ordinance, 2025.
The house division has expressed concern within the letter about unlawful kite flying noticed in sure elements of the province. It said that incidents have been being reported through which passersby had been injured.
Within the letter, the division stated, “Such practices pose a critical risk to human life and public security,” including that motion may very well be taken in opposition to violators, together with the arrest of kite fliers and the producers and suppliers of kite flying materials, in accordance with the legislation.
The assembly additionally instructed authorities to undertake foolproof safety preparations for New 12 months’s Eve, in addition to taking strict motion in opposition to these concerned in aerial firing, hooliganism and one-wheeling.
Moreover, the assembly permitted the extension of the deployment of Rangers in Mianwali, Attock, and Dera Ghazi Khan.
Kite flying has been the reason for a number of accidents and fatalities throughout the province, often attributable to kite strings coated with chemical substances or glass, or made out of metallic.
Final Saturday, a six-year-old woman was injured by a kite string close to Adda Maan on Ganda Singh Highway, throughout the jurisdiction of the Saddar Police Station.
The sufferer was using on the entrance of a motorbike together with her brother when a chemical-coated twine slashed her throat. She was instantly rushed to the DHQ Hospital for medical therapy.
