The Punjab government has decided there will be a complete ban on the celebration of the kite-flying festival across the province, reported 24NewsHD TV channel on Wednesday.

Punjab Chief Minister Sardar Usman Buzdar said no one will be allowed to fly kites in the province on Basant.

Sources said there were reports of preparations for Basant celebrations in Lahore, Faisalabad, Gujranwala, Rawalpindi and Sahiwal. The sources further claimed that some people wanted to celebrate Basant in the second week of February.

The high-ups upon hearing the reports sat together with Punjab Chief Minister Sardar Usman Buzdar who rejected all suggestions and recommendations to celebrate the kite-flying festival.

Buzdar directed authorities to launch a crackdown on kite- and string-makers, sellers and flyers. He directed to ensure implementation of the ban on kite-flying across Punjab and directed that violators should be prosecuted under the law.

Kite-flying was one of the most popular traditional events of Punjab and according to the Punjabi calendar it used to be held on the fifth day of the lunar month of Magha (in late January or early February) marking the start of spring. 

Pakistan used to celebrate the Basant festival with pomp and show where families and friends gathered on rooftops with music and food to enjoy the festivity of Basant until 2007 after that the event was banned in Punjab citing the increasing number of deaths and use of celebratory gunfire.

Authorities in the past banned the kite-flying festival and argued use of dangerous types of kite strings, electrocutions even people fell from rooftops.