Kite flying goes on unchecked in Rawalpindi

Rawalpindi: Kite flying is going on unchecked in different parts of the city and Cantonment areas despite ban in wake of reported death incidents and injuries to people, especially children.

A number of kites of different colours and sizes can be seen flying in various areas including, Amar Pura, Arya Mohalla, Ghulshan Dadan, Asghar Mall, Tench Bhatta, Peoples Colony, Masrial Road, Kiani Road Muslim Town, Sadiqabad and other areas.

Every year, with the advent of spring, people of different areas celebrate Basant festival, however, the concerned authorities had put a ban on it in a bid to save the lives of the citizens. When asked, Asif, a kite flying lover, opined that while celebrating the event, one can enjoy for some time.

He admitted that despite the fact that it was banned, some people wanted to celebrate it for the sake of their happiness. However, Faisal Khan whois witnessed of an incident in which a minor child got injured due to kite-flying string, spoke totally in favour of ban as it could save a number of lives.

He pointed out that strings made of glass-wire or metal had claimed several precious lives and a number of incidents had taken place in different cities in the past when persons particularly while riding on bikes sustained fatal injuries.

Rasheed, a citizen suggested that Basant festival should be allowed to celebrate and the administration should allocate special places like Ayub Park, Shamsabad Park, Rawal Lake and F-9 Parks in a bid to save lives of people.

A police spokesman saidthat all the arrangements had been made to nab the violators of the ban. He said that a complete ban was imposed on selling kites and other material to discourage this practice and save the precious lives. He informed that several kite sellers were sent behind the bars during this month and thousands of kites and kite flying string rolls were recovered from their possession.