The glass chandeliers hanging from the ornately carved wooden ceiling chime with the early spring breeze. The huge windows with embroidered curtains open to the vast expanses of calm waters, framing the lofty Zabarwan mountains in the backdrop. A lone shikara is rowing at a faraway distance. This is a view from one of the houseboats, famously called Floating Palaces in the valley. Sitting on the shores of Dal Lake are hundreds of such houseboats – shorn of guests - at a time when the tourists have started pouring into the valley.

Around 1200 houseboats moored around the Dal and Nagin Lakes in the valley have been made non-operational by the J-K Lakes and Waterways Development Authority, an agency working for the conservation of water bodies in the valley after the J-K High Court order barred hotels and houseboats from working. The reason – pollution of the lake.

Seated on a red-coloured couch inside his dreamlike houseboat with a small engraved walnut table in front is a man fighting on behalf of the houseboat owners – the President of Houseboat Owners Association – Muhammad Azeem Tuman. The captivating silence is broken by the clank of the crockery. “Tourists to Kashmir would say that Kashmir is a heaven and Houseboats were famously called Floating Palaces by them,” he says holding a cup in his hand. “By putting a stop on the operations of houseboats, we are facing a lot of problems. Bookings are being cancelled,” he says.

The breaking of glassy waters with the oars can be heard outside. He falls silent and then speaks, “On a single tourist, about 250 persons are dependent,” he informs. “Stopping the operations of houseboats will directly impact the livelihood of these people.”

... contd.