Srinagar: Seven tourists and two families had a miraculous escape on Thursday after a houseboat capsized into the Dal Lake following incessant rains in the Kashmir Valley over the past few days.
Mohammad Yousuf, owner of the houseboat said that the houseboat sank into the Dal Lake today morning and said that besides two families there were seven tourists in the houseboat when it started to sink.
He said that he along with other family members first evacuated the tourists as the houseboat was slowly sinking and somehow they managed to take them to a safer place and then we evacuated other family members.
Meanwhile, he said that their houseboat was old and they had requested the authorities to give them permission so they can repair it, however, their pleas fell on deaf ears.
Earlier, the administration had put a ban on the renovation of houseboats citing mushroomed growth inside the dal/Nigeen lake that could encroach the water bodies.
In May 2021, LG administration rolled out a policy that gives permission of renovation but houseboat owners said on the ground nothing much is happening as the process is a hectic process and it could take years. The floating heritage needs to be repaired, renovated and maintained annually as it is a wooden structure liable to damage.
He added that if the government had allowed them to repair the houseboat, this incident would have not happened.
“We are now homeless, as the houseboat has suffered massive damage. We appeal to the authorities to provide compensation, besides permission to repair our houseboat,” he said.
(With Inputs From KNO)
