The houseboat owners in Kashmir have rejected the J&K government’s monthly assistance of Rs 1,000 during the lockdown and urged it to announce a proper package instead. Kashmir Houseboat Owners Association president Abdul Hamid told THE WEEK the assistance announced by the government was a pittance.
“There are 1200 plus houseboats in Dal Lake and the maintenance cost for each is about one lakh a year,’’ Hamid said over the phone from a hotel where he has been kept in quarantine after arriving from Delhi on Friday. “Who will survive in such a paltry amount?” he asked.
He said the Centre must announce a package for the tourism sector in Kashmir because the tourists were forced out of Kashmir last year by the government before the revocation of Article 370. “Amid a booming tourist season last year, the government issued an advisory asking tourists to leave Kashmir,’’ he said. Ever since, the sector has not recovered from the sudden withdrawal of tourists from Kashmir, he said.
The pandemic has dealt a double jolt to the sector. “We were hoping for a good season this year, but due to the pandemic, another season has gone to waste,’’ he said.
Houseboat owner Tariq Patloo seconded Hamid. He told THE WEEK that the Rs 1,000-monthly assistance was a shame. "That amounts to Rs 33 per day,’’ he said. "Who will survive in such a meagre amount?"
He said they were helping members of the community who needed help through the Houseboat Owners Welfare Trust (HOWT). “We are providing food kits for a month," he said. "So far we have provided food kits to 600 families in Dal Lake.” He added that the trust is now providing help to the needy outside the lake.
The HOWT has managed to arrange help for the needy, thanks to donations from members of the community living outside Kashmir and abroad.
Patloo, too, demanded a package for houseboat and shikara owners. He said the weather was beautiful, the tulips were in full bloom and Dal lake was free from coronavirus, but there were no tourists. "It is so painful to see all this. Tourists are not only our bread and butter, but their presence enlivens things in Kashmir, especially the Dal Lake. The government is responsible for our plight because they forced the tourists out from Kashmir last year," he said. "Ever since we have been suffering.”
Another houseboat owner Azhar Bashir said every lean is followed by a good season in Kashmir, but this time there have been two lean seasons in succession. “Generally, a bad season is followed by a good season, which helps the tourism sector to recover, but this year it has been a double jolt,’’ Bashir said. He said he was hopeful of a promising season this year and booking was picking up slowly, before the pandemic played a spoilsport.
Hamid asked what was there for Kashmir in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s recently announced Rs 20 lakh crore package for reviving the economy. He also criticised the government for not providing facilities to those kept in quarantine at government-managed facilities. “I am in quarantine at a hotel at Muniwar in Srinagar but it lacks facilities,’’ he said. “This is the month of Ramzan and the authorities should know people are fasting and provide adequate facilities.”
He further said that the fruit and handicrafts sectors in the newly formed Union Territory were also suffering.