Fire guts two houseboats at Nageen Lake

Srinagar: In yet another tragic incident of its kind, two more houseboats on Sunday went up in flames at Nigeen Lake at 1 O’ clock.
Houseboat New Perfume Garden of Mohammad Yusuf Baktoo and another Houseboat Phoenix of Ghulam Ahmad Baktoo located at Saderbal side of Nageen lake gutted due to fire short circuit.
No tourist was staying in the houseboat during the night.
Sadly, due to the absence of the fire-tenders at Dal and Nigeen Lake, the houseboats have never been saved in any previous fire incident.
In 2017, three houseboats gutted in Nigeen lake and in 2018 three more houseboats gutted in Dal lake.
Sameer Bakhtoo, one of the close relatives of the owners of these houseboats said fire tenders reached on time but by that time 80 per cent of the property was already damaged.
“Houseboat owners have demanded special firefighters in Nigeen lake and Dal Lake but no one is listening. Government is only shedding crocodile tears. Houseboats need fire tender in motor boats that can come quickly and help extinguish the fire,” he said.