End of an Era

It has just been announced that all houseboats on Dal Lake in Srinigar, Kashmir are to close due to the environmental concerns about the lake.

Hand-carved cedar houseboats were first introduced in Dal Lake by the British as early as 1888. At the time, British troops stationed in present-day Pakistan escaped the scorching lowland summers in cooler Kashmir. The beloved houseboats - many with incongruous monikers such as The Buckingham Palace, Mona Lisa and Helen of Troy - soon become symbolic of "the Kashmir holiday", and staying in one was considered a once-in-a-lifetime experience.

It is here that George Harrison strummed the sitar alongside Ravi Shankar and Nelson Rockerfeller holidayed during his time as US vice-president.

In recent times, however, the houseboats have been singled out for the worsening condition of Dal Lake. About 1,200 houseboats are moored year-round at Dal Lake and their raw sewage goes directly into the water. Local officials claim that roughly 100,000 litres of untreated human waste enter the lake from the houseboats each day. Arsenic levels are a thousand times higher than permitted levels.

Although the construction of new houseboats stopped in 1991, the existent boats continue to operate without any change of design. Now, in what they claim is a bid to save famous Dal Lake from extinction, authorities in India-administered Kashmir have ordered a ban on the houseboats moored in its waters.

Environmentalists say Dal Lake is dying a slow death, with rampant pollution, urbanization on its banks, and the blockage of fresh water channels and natural springs spoiling its once-pristine waters.

Dal Lake - once described as "the most beautiful lake in India" - now figures among the 100 most polluted lakes in the world. In the past 20 years, the lake has shrunk from 25 square kilometres to 11 sq km, and its depth has decreased by four meters.

Houseboat owners have been angrily protesting. They claim houseboats are only responsible for 3% of the pollution levels and they have been urging the government for ages to begin a drainage programme.

My first trip in 1989 was a phenomenal experience. Living in Victorian style luxury for just a few US cents, time became immaterial as river boat shops came and supplied all that one could wish. It was also possible to safely hike in the area and I headed up to on a three day hike to the pristine Kolahoi glacier. More Swiss than Switzerland, Swiss ads for chocolate and milk were actually filmed here.

My return to the region in 1994 saw a marked change. There was a dawn to dusk curfew, and gunfire and explosions could be heard sporadically through the night. Walking around Srinigar, one was immediately confronted by barbed wire and bunkers. Heading out of town involved going through a check-point, registering your passport and the giving of telephone numbers of next of kin.