Srinagar- Two houseboats and a building of a high-end hotel housing the staff quarters were damaged due to fire in separate incidents around the famous Dal Lake here on Wednesday, officials said.
A houseboat in the lake caught fire, which spread to an adjacent houseboat, in the early hours, causing damage to both the floating structures, they added.
Eyewitnesses said that fire broke out in a houseboat which soon engulfed another one near Ghat No 9 of the Dal Lake.
They said two deluxe houseboats namely ‘Apolo 11’ and ‘New Zealand’ were extensively damaged in the fire incident.
Witnesses said that after the hard efforts from fire fighters and locals fire was doused, however, both the houseboats were completely damaged in the incident.
In another incident, a fire broke out in a building housing the staff quarters of a high-end heritage hotel located along the banks of the lake, the officials said.
Fire tenders were summoned and timely action prevented the blaze from spreading, they added.
There were no reports of anyone getting injured in any of the incidents, the officials said.
Meanwhile, the Travel Agents Society of Kashmir has appealed to the Government to compensate the fire victims.
President TASK, Muhammad Akram Siah and General Secretary Waseem Goosani made a fervent appeal to Commissioner Secretary and Director Tourism to compensate the owners of the gutted houseboats. They also appealed to LAWDA to allow the victims to renovate their damaged houseboats without any hindrances.
In another incident, a fire broke out in a building housing the staff quarters of a high-end heritage hotel located along the banks of the lake, the officials said.
Fire tenders were summoned and timely action prevented the blaze from spreading, they added.
There were no reports of anyone getting injured in any of the incidents, the officials said.
Bukhari demands ex-gratia
Apni Party President Syed Mohammad Altaf Bukhari on Wednesday expressed deep shock over a hapless fire incident in Dal Lake where two deluxe houseboats, Apollo 11 & New Zealand, were completely damaged.
Issuing a statement here, Bukhari termed the incident as extremely unfortunate and said the fire victims have borne losses worth lakhs that need to be adequately compensated by the administration in order to help them out.
“The district administration must dispatch its teams on ground zero to assess the losses incurred so that ex-gratia relief is disbursed to these families on a prompt basis. Besides paying an adequate compensation, the concerned authorities must ensure that the victim families are temporarily rehabilitated to a suitable accommodation, keeping in view the harsh inclement weather conditions,” he demanded.
CCIK demands fire tenders at Dal, Nageen
Associated Chamber of Commerce and Industry Kashmir (CCIK) has expressed serious concern over the frequent fire incidents of the houseboats in Dal and Nigeen Lake.
While expressing solidarity with the affected owners, CCIK President Tariq Rashid Ghani said frequent fire incidents of the houseboats is a matter of great concern and the government needs to step in to save this heritage tourism product.
Ghani said the government should set up several fire fighting tenders at both the lakes to prevent such incidents in the future.
CCIK also demanded immediate compensation for the affected owners and also appealed to concerned authorities to provide permission to the owners for its construction.
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