EARTH NEWS SERVICE|
Srinagar, Dec 2 |15: Even though the government has managed to give some sort of financial assistance to 2014 flood victims in the valley, a particular section of the society are not even considered in the rehabilitation plan even after suffering heavily in the deluge. Hundreds of families living in various houseboats, doongas (small boats) across Dal Lake, Nigeen Lake and Jhelum river are yet to receive any sort of post September 2014 flood relief even though the estimated loss is placed at more than 15 crore rupees by the Houseboat Owners Association. Apparently there is a ban imposed on repair and reconstruction of the houseboats right since 1980s since it was deemed necessary to save water bodies from overcrowding and pollution. Abdul Rashid, Chief Secretary Houseboat Owners Association (HBOA), said, “Boatmen community not even getting a mere mention in any of the programs organised by the Department of Tourism. The association runs its office from a small hutment exactly opposite the newly constructed Tourist Reception Centre at Maulana Azad Road, Srinagar. During the flood fury last year, more than 15 houseboats were severely damaged while seven sank beyond retrieve. The HBOA complained of no help from the authorities even though they (boatmen) were the ones providing shikaras and small boats to rescue people from all the inundated areas. “We were there, all the time, saving people while rowing through the city in our shikaras. Daring through the ferocious waters day in and day out, some of our boats even suffered damage beyond repair. It is an irony that we are not even counted among those who suffered”, said Mohammad Shafi, a Houseboat owner in River Jhelum, whose own Shikara was damaged while rescuing people. Various officials of the Tourism Department specified that the department cannot give any permission of repair or reconstruction of the houseboats considering the ban imposed a few decades ago. Another official of the HBOA remarked that the ban will automatically trigger the extinction of houseboats. “Houseboats need a lot of repair work, we have to ensure the safety by coring (filling the gaps between wooden floor planks with a specific weed) them every few years, a process that costs us around half a lakh rupees. The ban is actually there to decrease the number of houseboats until none remains,” said Manzoor Ahmad, Public Secretary HBOA.
