Shikarawalas idle the days away

M Aamir Khan

Tribune News Service

Srinagar, August 31

The sight of a local holding a fishing rod lights up the eyes of Abdul Rashid, a shikarawala, at the Dal Lake – Kashmir’s prime tourist spot. The shikarawala tells the local that he will take him to a spot where he can catch big fish. However, a disappointed Rashid soon returns to his shikara as the local refuses the offer and chooses to catch fish on the banks of the lake.

“At this time of the year, a good number of tourists and locals would come here in large numbers but this year we have done no business,” Rashid said as a row of empty shikaras lay idle at the lake.

Even as the Dal Lake would bustle with tourists and locals at this time of the year, the Boulevard Road along the lake these days looks just like another curfewed road of the Valley.

While business activities too have come to a standstill, people related to the tourism sector, especially those living in and around the Dal Lake, would generally make money during the tourism season only. However, all business activities, including those related to the tourism sector, got badly hit after Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani’s killing on July 8 sparked widespread protests.

Rashid said the families living there were surviving mainly through the sale of vegetables on the famed floating market of the Dal Lake. A few vendors have also put on sale vegetables on the banks of the lake but there is very little movement of vehicles as the Boulevard Road wears a deserted look.

The hotels along the road too are empty leaving scores of locals jobless. “Many had taken hotels on lease as last year the tourism season had remained comparatively better. But now, they have got no business to do and many others have lost their jobs,” said Parvez, a caretaker of a hotel close to the Dal Lake.

An official of the Tourism Department, Kashmir, said as the unrest in the Valley had led to cancellations of bookings, the hoteliers, houseboat owners, shikarawalas and other tourism stakeholders were badly hit. He said due to the efforts of the Tourism Department, some Bollywood shootings to be held in the Valley this year had been cancelled due to the unrest that entered its 54th day today.