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Rainy weather dampens Basant fervour

LAHORE: Unfavourable weather conditions dampened the traditional Basant fervour as the festival revellers could not have much kite-flying due to less velocity of wind on Saturday night and showers on Sunday morning.

"The velocity of wind remained below 2 nautical miles (one nautical mile-1.8 kilometres) most of the time on Saturday night making kite-flying pretty difficult. The minimum wind velocity needed for the purpose is above 2 nautical miles", a meteorologist said on Sunday.

Basant day, the seasonal festival is considered as the harbinger of spring, marking the end of the chilly weather in line with the Punjabi proverb, Aya Basant, Pala Urant (Advent of Basant marks end of cold weather).

However, the scattered rains on Sunday which hit most of the areas in Rawalpindi, Gujranwala, Lahore and Faisalabad divisions are likely to have good effects on the wheat crop this year.

Wheat crop has been sown over an area of 15.414 million acres of land in the province. APP