Omar, Mehbooba meet fire affected families at Nigeen Lake

Srinagar: The former chief ministers of Jammu and Kashmir on Tuesday met the fire affected families in Nigeen Lake and praised the locals for evacuating the tourists from the affected houseboats by risking their lives.
National Conference (NC) Vice President, Omar Abdullah has said that his father and member of Parliament from Srinagar, Dr Farooq Abdullah has raised the issue of Nigeen Lake blaze during Zero Hour and has asked the government to compensate these owners for their losses.
“Visited Nageen lake to meet the owners of the houseboats that were gutted in a recent fire. The owners ensured that all the tourists were evacuated safely even though that meant they weren’t able to shift some of the boats away from the path of the fire,” Omar tweeted.
“Srinagar Lok Sabha MP Dr Farooq Abdullah raised this issue during Zero Hour & has asked the government to compensate these owners for their losses,” he wrote further.
Meanwhile, Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) president and former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister, Mehbooba Mufti also visited the fire affected families in Nigeen Lake.
Pertinently, seven houseboats and three wooden sheds were damaged in the blaze that broke out in the intervening night of Sunday-Monday at Nigeen Lake. Mehbooba praised the locals for risking their lives to save the tourists present in the houseboats when the fire engulfed their properties. She also demanded immediate assistance from the government to the houseboat owners, saying that soft loans, timber and other measures should be taken at earliest for the early rehabilitation of the fire affected families