Irfan Tramboo
SRINAGAR, Apr 4: At least 7 finest houseboats were gutted in a massive blaze that raged in Nigeen Lake last night resulting in damage worth crores of rupees while several people also suffered injuries as they tried to douse down the flames.
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The houseboats that were gutted in the blaze include Royal Paradise, India Palace, Jersey, Lily of the World, New Maharaja Palace, Young Swift and Flora. Eyewitnesses said that fire first emerged from the houseboat India Palace where there were few tourists staying.
As per officials, the fire tenders reached the spot around 2:30 am soon after they got the SOS while they first tried to save the houseboats that suffered minimum damage.
The eyewitnesses said that all 7 houseboats were raised to ashes after the fire emerged out of one houseboat and quickly engulfed others as well. They alleged that the firefighters were slow in ensuring the necessary firefighting.
It is to be noted here that all the 7 houseboats that were gutted were tied together with a help of a strong wire which could not be untied as the fire raged on even as some people tried to do that, but ended up suffering injuries.
The officials of the Fire & Emergency Services said that 7 houseboats and three wooden GCI sheds were involved in the fire while estimating the damages of over Rs 3 crore
“All the seven houseboats along with contents were severely damaged, while as the wooden GCI sheds were partly damaged in the fire,” officials said, adding that the cause of the fire was under police investigation.
The fire stations that were pressed in to douse down the flames include, Hazratbal, Rainawari, Babademb, Gowkadal and Nehrupark
As soon as the fire was spotted, the staff of the houseboats ensured that the tourist staying in the houseboats are rescued first and then the valuable items in the houseboats are taken out.
“The tourists were taken out but the rest was all gutted. We were able to untie two houseboats after a lot of struggle and while doing that some people suffered injuries; all in all, not the people even not the Fire Fighters were able to save the houseboats,” the families owning the gutted houseboats said.
On the other side, while the houseboats lack the necessary firefighting mechanism, the Government has also failed in ensuring to have fireboats in place to deal with any kind of emergency. The locals said that the World Bank has given 6 such fireboats to the Government, “but the same has not been put to use so far,” they said.
The houseboat owners said that they do not have side businesses, or to say, any other source of income and that the Government should come forward for their rehabilitation. “Because it is all over, we are left with nothing,” they said.
They said that such incidents have happened in the past as well but the Government has failed in duly compensating them. “At least they should be provided with some help in the shape of loans and other subsidies so that they could establish what they have lost”.
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