The kite flyers of various areas of the city are facing raids by police as the ban on the Basant activities continues.
Various police stations have sent their teams to the areas where youngsters are violating the ban while women constables have also been deployed to check kites and chemical strings stored in houses.
Sadaqat Khan, SHO Banni Police Station said that so far 12 FIRs have been registered during the last week against owners of the houses where Basant was celebrated. The police station also collected over 5,000 kites and seized related material involved in kite making in the area.
He said that crack down that started after February 10 would continue till March 15.
Kite flying and Basant celebrations had been announced in various areas of Rawalpindi despite the ban while strict action would be taken on such activities, he added.
Basant is a historical festival celebrated in spring, maintaining its historical identity in a colorful way but for the last few years there were reports of incidents of injuries and deaths using metallic and chemical string, the festivity of Basant was banned creating frustration among those who used to celebrate Basant purely for promoting cultural values.
In last few years, despite the ban, the activities of the Basant were continued illegal but during the current year, the police is monitoring the kite flyers even on rooftops across the city and arresting the enthusiastic youngsters and kite-flyers who seemed determined to not let the limitations of the law hamper their efforts to celebrate Basant.
Most of the people are of the view that there should be no ban on Basant for people who follow their cultural traditions and celebrate the spring in colorful way but the use of metallic string should be monitored strictly to avoid such incidents.
According to the police, the sport of kite flying involves many risks besides the incidents of injuries and death from the metallic strings, children also fell down from the roof tops while flying kites resulting in serious injuries and deaths.
