Pakistan’s Punjab approves kite-flying law as Basant festival set to return after decades
ISLAMABAD: The Punjab Assembly Standing Committee on Home Affairs on Monday approved a new ordinance regulating kite flying, setting the stage for lawmakers to endorse the measure in the next assembly session as the provincial government moves toward reviving the Basant festival after a 25-year ban.
The Punjab Regulation of Kite Flying Ordinance 2025 has already received approval from the governor, with the provincial administration announcing earlier this month it would allow Basant to be held from Feb. 6-8.
The festival once drew thousands to rooftops across Lahore and other cities in the province, but from 2005 onwards authorities repeatedly prohibited kite flying after dozens of people, many of them children, were killed or injured by metal and chemically coated strings that slashed motorcyclists and pedestrians.
“It is necessary to provide for regulation of kite flying in Punjab in order to save human life, public and private property and matters connected therewith,” the ordinance said.
