Residents converge in a street in the old city area to buy kites and strings for Basant. Sunday was the first day of permitted sale of the items for the festival scheduled from February 6 to 8. PHOTO: NNI
LAHORE:
Basant preparations in Lahore have gathered further momentum, with the sale of kites and string crossing Rs1.50 billion by the fifth day of trading, reflecting both surging demand and rising prices as the city readies for the long-awaited festival.
According to Advocate Malik Faizan Ahmed, legal adviser to the Kite Flying Association, more than one million kites were sold across Lahore’s markets on the fourth day alone, while over 20,000 spools of string (panna) changed hands, keeping wholesale and retail hubs busy throughout the day.
He said that kite sales and availability remained strong despite price increases. On the fourth day, a one-and-a-half tawa kite was being sold for Rs700, a one tawa kite for Rs400, and a pauna tawa kite for Rs300, while a two-piece spool of string was fetching between Rs12,000 and Rs15,000, depending on length and quality.
Malik Faizan Ahmed said the volume of trade rose steadily each day, reaching Rs160 million on the first day, Rs180 million on the second, Rs200 million on the third, before surging to Rs680 million on the fourth day, pushing cumulative sales beyond Rs1.50 billion on the fifth day.
He added that kite trading remained active in major commercial areas, including inside Mochi Gate, Islampura, Sanda, Samanabad, Nonarian and Ichhra, as well as several adjoining neighbourhoods, where both buyers and sellers continued to report brisk business despite rising costs.
