LAHORE: As the three-day Basant festival began on Friday, Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz thanked citizens of the provincial capital and those coming from other cities for their enthusiasm and cooperation.

The chief minister also ordered strict compliance with safety measures, urging citizens to use only standard-sized kites and approved strings. She warned that the use of prohibited kite string could result in heavy fines and long-term imprisonment.

She said Basant, revived after almost two decades, has been an integral part of Punjab’s cultural heritage and stressed the need for taking pride in local traditions while demonstrating responsible citizenship during the festival.

The CM cancelled her Basant-related activities following the Islamabad terror attack. “In the wake of the Islamabad tragedy, I am cancelling all my Basant-related activities that were scheduled for Saturday (today). The mega Basant show at the Liberty Square also stands cancelled,” the CM said in a post on X on Friday.

46 Basant-related injuries reported on first day; CM orders strict compliance with safety measures

She further said it was imperative that the nation remained united against the Khwarji menace and their ‘sympathisers’.

“Show them no mercy and stand shoulder to shoulder with the armed forces in defence of the country,” she said. The Punjab Home Department meanwhile instructed all intelligence and law enforcement agencies to step up vigilance in the wake of the Islamabad blast.

During a meeting on Friday, Cabinet Committee for Law and Order Chairman Khwaja Salman Rafique and Home Secretary Dr Ahmad Javed Qazi reviewed the security arrangements, including the security plan, field monitoring, emergency response and inter-departmental coordination.

The meeting was told that the home department’s control room received some 46 Basant-related injuries during the first day on Friday. It said 16 injuries occurred due to twine, 15 from falling from rooftops, four from aerial firing and 11 others.

One death of a 22-year-old youth was reported after he was electrocuted while climbing on an electric pole to catch a stray kite.

Another youth belonging to Gojra died after falling from a roof in an attempt to catch a stray kite in Madina Colony, Baghbanpura area.

Among the injured was a 21-year-old man who sustained injuries around his neck after coming in contact with a stray kite string in Lahore’s Defence Housing Authority (DHA). He was returning home from a local market on a bike when the string became entangled around his neck, leaving visible deep wounds.

A police official claimed that the injured person was riding the bike without a safety rod. The police official said that Rescue 1122 reached the site of the incident and after the injured person was provided first aid, he was rushed to a hospital where he underwent surgery.

In another incident, a 45-year old man suffered multiple injuries to his face and neck after a kite string fell on him while he was riding a bike.

A police official indicated that the injured men would be investigated for taking their bikes on roads without safety rods despite repeated warnings.

An eight-year-old girl sustained throat injuries when a kite string fell on her in Lahore’s Gulshan-e-Ravi area, police said.

In other incidents, two youngsters suffered injuries from kite strings in the city.

Another man fell from the roof of his house in the Ravi Road area, suffering multiple injuries.

The festival is set to run till Feb 8.

Asif Chaudhry and Mansoor Malik from Lahore and Tariq Saeed from Toba Tek Singh contributed to this report

Published in Dawn, February 7th, 2026