CLAIM
A syndicated story from the Press Trust of India (PTI) with the headline 'Kite-Flying Banned During Sankranti Festival in Hyderabad' has led to rumours of a complete ban on the activity in the city.
The story was picked up by several media houses like Financial Express, The Hindu Businessline and Business Standard among others.
The rumour was also viral on Facebook after the page 'Nation with Namo' shared the story with a communal narrative.
Sanjeev Sanyal, an ecomonist followed by BJP IT Cell head Amit Malviya, also tweeted the Financial Express story, garnering over 3.5k retweets at the time of writing this article.
TRUE OR FALSE?
The Hyderabad Police has rubbished the rumours, calling them misleading. In an audio note shared on the city police's official Twitter handle, Commissioner Anjani Kumar can be heard saying:
"I want to make it very clear that there is no ban on flying kites on the festival of Sankranti... there is only suggestion and regulation that one should be careful that it does not go into the campus of some religious institution. It should not go to a place where it should offend somebody's feeling. That is the spirit of the suggestion made by the police."
WHAT DID THE PTI STORY SAY?
The PTI story had quoted a notification relased by the police department on 10 January, wherein it states:
"In order to maintain Law & Order, peace and tranquility and to prevent incidents of breach of peace and accidents that are likely to occur unless kite flying is regulated during the celebration of Sankranthi Festival in Hyderabad City from 14-01-2019 to 15-01-2019."
The notification further suggests that parents advise their children against flying kites on terraces that do not have parapet walls to avoid any untoward incidents.
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