To some of our daydreaming functionaries imitating innovations carried out by the western world has become a fashion. Much may we wish to have novelties of life available to us as we find western sockets gifted with but the fact is that we first need to reach the level of advancement that would be at par with the western developed countries. Somebody at some official level got the idea of introducing ferry service in Srinagar city so that river transport would ease surface traffic congestion in the old city. The idea has sprung from the fact that Srinagar city is situated along the two banks of Jhelum that flows down the valley. Firstly it needs to be made clear whether the idea is just arranging pleasure cruises or waterway transportation. Whatever the purpose, there is the need for adequate infrastructure that would support the industry. Embarking and disembarking sites have to be constructed in a manner that these respond to the level of water in the river, which varies with change in weather. If it was meant to be a cruise and part of tourism, then the heritage sites in the city and downtown should have been maintained in a way that these become the objects of attraction for the tourists. Nothing of the sort has been done. The number of boats that would ply is also important. It appears that concerned functionaries at the Tourism and other departments have not done good homework before deciding to purchase a few boats and make a loud noise of introducing a new and novel transport system in the congested city. However notwithstanding these deficiencies, we agree that in case the project is accompanied by the requisite infrastructure, it would provide employment opportunities to some extent. But that is conditional to the availability of all pre-requisites.
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