Young Golden Palace and Humayun Palace- the two houseboats worth Rs 8 crore were completely gutted in a devastating fire in world famed Dal lake here.The fire started around 5:30 am on Saturday morning from one houseboat and engulfed another destroying both of them completely. The proprietors of these House Boats told CNS that Fire and Emergency Services Department failed to respond to the SOS calls while the motor boat present at Ghat number 1 arrived two hours late.After one and a half hour, CRPF personnel from 144 Battalion arrived on scene and tried to douse the fire, but both the house boats were completely destroyed till then,” Altaf Ahmed Shala said.
“These houseboats could not be saved despite best efforts by volunteers,” said a local woman.The victims appealed government to grant them permission to rebuild the houseboats at the earliest. “We lost everything. We are finished and have no source of income. We appeal to the government to compensate us and allow us to rebuild these house boats again,” the victims said.A police official said that the cause of the fire is attributed to short-circuit. The loss of precious houseboats, estimated at Rs 8 Crores, was widely mourned by tourism and travel trade industry and other business people. (CNS)