THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Abdul Hamid Wangnoo still reminisces the fond memories of free-flowing canals across Jammu and Kashmir. His houseboats used to travel across Dal lake with tourists. It's all past now. Muddled in militancy, policy paralysis and inefficient bureaucracy, the houseboats sector has been deteriorating at a rapid rate. Fuelling the miseries, the rampant pollution in the lake has put many restrictions on their business.
Following the recommendations of the expert committee headed by E Sreedharan, a 13-member delegation led by J&K Tourism director Nisar Ahmad Wani and consisting of various houseboat owners visited Kerala from June 28 to 30, to study the concept of bio-digesters and waste segregation to revive the lake and industry.
“Houseboat sector in Jammu and Kashmir is going through a tough spell for the past few years. If the closure of canals was the earlier issue, nowadays, effluents from the boats to lakes what prevents the industry to flourish further. That's how we decided to implement bio-digesters,” said Wangnoo, chairman of Kashmir Houseboat Owners Association besides others.
It was after the recommendation of Nivedita P Haran IAS, the former state additional chief secretary and a member of the expert committee formed by Jammu and Kashmir High Court, the delegation decided to visit the state.
The team started from Kochi has visited Kumarakom and Kovalam as well. “Similar to our Dal, Nigeen and Wular lakes, Kerala is known for its backwaters and the connectivity through houseboats. But we were taken aback when the houseboat owners mentioned that the concept to develop their country boats into houseboats was sourced from Jammu and Kashmir boats,” said Wangnoo.
The team held meetings with the Tourism Department and Houseboat Association of Kerala to assess the ground reality of Kerala's model. In addition, powerpoint presentations were displayed on segregation of solid and liquid waste.
Although the delegation praised Kerala houseboat's overall structure, the owners are still reluctant to the idea of installing kitchens in boats. “The team is convinced with waste treatment system in houseboats. But we don't want to add Kitchen facility in our boats. The daily generation of waste will create difficulties for tourists. As our boats are made out of wood, we don't want to witness any untoward incident either,” he said. However, the J&K tourism director did not respond to any questions despite repeated attempts.
Interestingly, Kerala Tourism has hosted similar delegations in the past as well. "Kerala was merely a consultant in the visit. We have given adsvises on various issues faced by Jammu and Kashmir tourism.
The department had similar collaborative projects in the past. Madhya Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Lakshadweep tourism officials have visited us to study about homestays and many other projects," said P Balakiran, director of Kerala Tourism.