Muzamil Bhat

Sharmila Joshi

Text Editor

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Gulzar Ahmad Bhat is sitting
quietly on a wooden bench at Ghat No. 15 of Dal Lake. Like other shikara
rowers in Srinagar, he has seen barely any customers since August 2, when the Jammu
and Kashmir government issued an advisory to tourists to leave Kashmir Valley immediately.
“That made our future uncertain. In my 18 years here, I have never seen such
bulk bookings [getting cancelled],” says 32-year-old Gulzar.

A few visitors have trickled in
for shikara
rides after the government lifted the advisory on October 10. Most of them were
brought by travel agents and they drove hard bargains. “We ask for Rs. 600 [the
officially-approved rate] for a one-hour shikara spin over the waters of the Dal Lake
if the customer comes directly to us. For the same ride an agent gives us us
only Rs. 250. In these times, we cannot even refuse,” says 42-year-old Mehraj-Ud-Din
Paktoo, who was still waiting for visitors in mid-November, still hoping to be
able to see his family through the cold winter.The shikaras are rowed either by the canoe-owners or rented out to rowers for around Rs. 30,000 a season. A rower can expect to make Rs. 2 lakhs to Rs. 2.5 lakhs over the six-month tourism season. After rent and other costs, he is left with around Rs. 180,000. That income has to be spread across 12 months – and thins out to Rs. 15,000 a month. In off-season, the shikarawalas have no work, or they do odd jobs, and some try to catch a few fish in the lakes for sale or for their families. 

The tourism season in the
Valley is broadly May to October. By the first week of November and after early
snowfall in Kashmir this year, the chances of more shikara-seeking visitors are even
slimmer. Last year (2018), which itself was a
low year for tourism, 8.5 lakh tourists – Indian and international – visited
Kashmir Valley. The much-depleted numbers of this years are not yet clear.But all the 4,800 shikaras
gliding along the different water bodies of Kashmir, including Dal Lake, have
suffered huge losses since August, says 60-year-old Wali Mohammad Bhat, president
of the All J&amp;K Taxi Shikara Owners Association and All J&amp;K Shikara
Workers Association. As have the 960 houseboat-owners on Dal Lake, Nigeen lake,
Manasbal lake and the Jheulm river, says Abdul Rashid Kallu, general secretary
of the Kashmir Houseboat Owners Association



“The
losses for just the shikarawalas on Dal Lake [which has 37 ghats or small docks] are over Rs. 8 crores,”
estimates Bhat. Some, he says, have taken loans from various sources to buy shikaras – a new one costs
around Rs. 1.5 lakhs – and are now unable to pay the
instalments. A few, Bhat adds, could not withstand the pressure of moneylenders
and have sold off their shikaras to repay the loans. There is no government
compensation scheme so far for families whose only means of survival is the shikara.

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Srinagar’s shikaras: still waters run deep losses

শ্রীনগরের শিকারা - নিথর জলে ক্ষতির ঘন ছায়া

শ্ৰীনগৰৰ শিকাৰাবোৰঃ পৰ্যটকৰ অভাৱত ক্ষতিগ্ৰস্ত জীৱিকা

ଶ୍ରୀନଗରର ଶିକାରା : ଏବେ ମଧ୍ୟ ପାଣିରେ ପ୍ରଭୂତ କ୍ଷତି ସହିବାକୁ ପଡୁଛି

ஸ்ரீநகரின் ஷிகராக்கள்: அசைவற்ற நீர் கடுமையான இழப்புகளை ஏற்படுத்திக் கொண்டிருக்கிறது

श्रीनगर के शिकारा: डल जितना ही गहरा है नुक़्सान

سری نگر کے شکارے: پانی جتنا ہی گہرا ہے نقصان

श्रीनगरचे शिकारेः स्तब्ध पाण्यात, खोल गर्तेत

Srinagar

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Srinagar’s shikaras: still waters run deep losses

Though the government has lifted its August advisory to tourists to leave Kashmir, shikarawalas have seen few customers. The six-month tourism season sustains them all year and many are now facing a crisis

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