Iconic houseboats in Srinagar’s Dal Lake struggling to stay afloat

Colourful houseboats, a prime attraction for every tourist who visits Kashmir, are dying a slow death as owners are struggling to get permission even to carry out repairs.

The numbers have gone down from a peak of 3,500 houseboats to 900, with no attention from the government. More than 40 per cent of houseboats have vanished in just three decades. And at this speed, it seems they may well become history soon.

Given present circumstances, houseboat builders are staring at joblessness in the face of Jammu and Kashmir High Court guidelines prohibiting any further increase in the number of houseboats at the Dal and Nigeen lakes.

Houseboats are floating houses that are anchored along the banks of the Dal and Nigeen lakes in Srinagar and are a blend of a hotel and home stay on the water.

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Abdul Khaliq Najar, a craftsman who has made over 50 houseboats, said that for the last few years, he has had little to no work. Non-availability of Deodar timber for constructing new houseboats and lack of permission for repairs are the main reasons for dwindling work, he said.

Deodar’s rot-resistant character makes it an ideal wood for constructing the houseboats. Najar said that his forefathers, for generations, had done such woodwork “but it is for the first time I am facing such a situation.”

“There will be no houseboats in coming years if repairs are not being carried out on the existing boats. 90 per cent of houseboats are in dire need of repairs,” he said and added timber required for making houseboats is not easily available and if it is, it is too expensive.

Last year in December, a parliamentary committee recommended formulation of a rehabilitation policy for Kashmir’s houseboat owners who want to leave their traditional business and go for alternative livelihood opportunities.

The panel had also taken a note of a proposal, which it said is under consideration of the government, for providing timber to houseboat owners at concessional rates for repair or re-construction of their houseboats.

However, four months later, there has been no progress and the owners, who want to repair their houseboats, are still waiting for the timber.

The origins of the city’s houseboats stretch back into the days of the British Raj. The British enjoyed travelling to Kashmir in the summer months to escape the heat and dust of the Indian plains, but the local Hindu maharaja denied them permission to own land.

At the same time, they enjoyed touring the Kashmir valley via the area’s waterways and hence, the idea of a “floating camp” was born.