Palaces on sewage

For many a tourist for many a decade, staying in a houseboat has been the highlight of a visit to Kashmir. Floating on the serene waters of the Dal and Nagin lakes in the Valley, with picturesque mountains forming the backdrop, houseboats have been hosting visitors, mostly from the West, since colonial times. But suddenly, this idyllic tradition has been threatened, and simply because nothing was done when there was time.

On the surface, the reasoning sounds right-headed. On 8 March, based on a decree by the Jammu & Kashmir High Court, the state government ordered the approximately 1200 houseboat owners on these lakes to suspend business. In all likelihood, the court's decision was prompted by a recent report by the state's Pollution Control Board (PCB), which warned that the open lavatories and refuse from the houseboats' kitchens were a major source of pollution in the lakes. As it stands, when tourists and service staff use the toilets, the excreta is dumped directly into the lake, with no system in place to store and transport the waste to treatment centres or outside the lake. According to the PCB's estimates, the influx of pollutants into Dal Lake exceeds the permissible limit by six to eight times. At present, houseboat owners are being told to take immediate measures to handle solid and liquid wastes as per the regulations of the Lakes and Waterways Development Authority (LAWDA), a department responsible for controlling pollution in the lakes. Those not complying will no longer be allowed to house guests.