Residents meet in a street in the old town area to buy kites and strings for Basant. Sunday was the first day of permitted sales of the items for the festival scheduled from February 6 to 8. PHOTO: NNI
LAHORE:
Basant preparations in Lahore have gained further momentum, with sales of kites and strings crossing Rs1.50 billion on the fifth day of trading, reflecting both rising demand and rising prices as the city gears up for the much-awaited festival.
According to lawyer 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 kite sales and availability remained strong despite price increases. On the fourth day, one-and-a-half tawa kite was sold for Rs 700, one tawa kite for Rs 400 and a pauna tawa kite for Rs 300, while a two-piece spool of thread fetched between Rs12,000 and Rs15,000, depending on length and quality.
Malik Faizan Ahmed said trading volume rose steadily every day, reaching Rs160 million on the first day, Rs180 million on the second, Rs200 million on the third, before rising to Rs680 million on the fourth day, pushing the 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 adjacent neighborhoods where both buyers and sellers continued to report brisk business despite rising costs.
