LAHORE, Feb 16: Even though a few kite traders have opened their shops, mainly inside the Mochi gate for a two-day kite festival called Basant on Feb 24 to 25, they are not looking for any roaring business this year.

For many of them, it is a chance to clear their stocks which were liability for them in the wake of a ban on the kite sport. The major setback to the kite trade is that the Lahore city district government has specified the size of the kite for the first time. The banned charkhi has been replaced with pinna or ball of twine.

“We have only replaced charkhi with pinna while twines and kites are from the old stock,” a shopkeeper said. He said twine was not sharp that was in accordance with the city district government’s specifications.

“Do you think one can have new stocks of twine and kite according to the new specifications just for a two-day business?” he asked.

The prices were not high as the shopkeepers appeared to be interested in clearing their stocks which they had to protect a lot during the ban.

Many of them said they would be lucky if their stocks were cleared.

“No one is going to make blind investments in the business which is short-lived and whose future is uncertain,” they said. They hoped that the business would pick near Basant.

The district government on Friday began free distribution of antennas to motorcyclists to save them from sharp twine which has killed a number of people in the past.