Houseboat owners struggle with deteriorating living conditions, fire incidents

SRINAGAR, NOV 11: Against the backdrop of serene Dal waters, houseboat owners are grappling with poor living conditions and fire incidents.
On Saturday morning several houseboats were destroyed in a massive fire that broke out in the tourist hub of Dal Lake. Three tourists also died in the incident.

Abdul Hamid, a houseboat owner, said they live under miserable conditions. “We are being blamed for polluting Dal Lake. The reality is that people across Srinagar are responsible for polluting the lake. Sewage generated from various parts of Srinagar is flowing into the lake,” he added.
Houseboat owners say that dilapidated infrastructure and a lack of essential services contribute to their overall distress.
“Nobody is concerned about us. We don’t have adequate fire service facilities available here. The authorities have failed to clean the lake. We are not able to move to various places due to growing weed,” another houseboat owner said.
Similarly, houseboats are part of Kashmir’s rich culture and often referred to as the jewel of the valley’s tourism are dying fast.
Houseboats made of wood are also called floating palaces on various water bodies of Kashmir including Dal Lake, Nigeen Lake and River Jehlum.
However, over the years, their number has reduced to around 900 from 1600 as their owners could not do their repairs in time.
However, in June this year, the High Court of Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh recently directed the Jammu and Kashmir government to allow the repair and renovation of houseboats on Dal Lake, Nigeen Lake, and River Jhelum.
However, the houseboat owners say that the decision has brought some relief to them.
“These houseboats were built decades ago and many are on the verge of collapse. But now allowing the repair of houseboats will save our houseboats,” said Mohammad Amin, a houseboat owner.
“The government was blaming only the houseboat owners for deteriorating the water quality of Dal Lake and River Jhelum, but it is the responsibility of everyone to save our water bodies from pollution,” said Mehraj Ahmad, another houseboat owner, while welcoming the decision of allowing repair of houseboats.
In 1988, the Farooq Abdullah-led government banned the building of new houseboats and the repair and renovation of the existing ones in Kashmir due to pollution concerns.
Then, the government wanted to reduce the number of houseboats to save the environment.
The houseboats are of different sizes, some having up to four bedrooms apart from a living room and kitchen. The value of a houseboat is between Rs 2 to Rs 4 crore.