Sheikh Saqlain
Life has flourished on the waters of the Dal and Nigeen lakes for countless generations. But only about a century ago, a British Army officer put up the first of Srinagar’s famed houseboats.

Today, hundreds of hand-carved houseboats are moored along the shores of the twin lakes, having drawn millions of visitors to Kashmir since their inception.

Today hundreds of houseboats, with names like ‘Helen of Troy,’ ‘Buckingham Palace,’ ‘Mughal Palace,’ and ‘Alexandria’ are floating along the shores of the twin lakes, most of them serving as lodging for tourists.

Unfortunately, a houseboat once used by Beatle George Harrison is rotting and half-submerged near the banks of the Dal.

Most houseboats, rustic pine and cedar structures, with carved woodwork, atop flat-bottomed barges, have two or more bedrooms, a dining room, parlor, bathrooms and a porch on the lake.

But the number of the houseboats has dwindled to about a 1000, from 3600 in 1947, due to a ban on construction of new houseboats and strict rules for renovation of damaged ones.

Environmentalists say the ban on fresh construction was imposed because pollution from houseboats is threatening the survival of the Dal Lake, about 100,000 liters of sewage from houseboats spews into the lake annually.

Houseboat owners deny this and say the boats only contribute to just 3 percent to the pollution of the lake which is at the verge of an ecological disaster.

Besides Dal and Nigeen lakes dozens of houseboats are also floating on the Jhelum River.

Nearby shikaras ply the waters, paddled along by native boatmen. Some serve as floating shops, bringing food, household goods, handicrafts and flowers right to the porches of the houseboats.

Kashmir, a picturesque corner of the world locked between India, China and Pakistan, was once one of the finest tourist destinations in all of south Asia.

Click here for full story: https://www.ourlostparadise.com/numbers-of-kashmiri-houseboats-dwindle-under-conservation-rule/