Insure Houseboats- Much needed directive

A few incidents of fire that gutted several houseboats so far have forced the administration to come up with fresh directives, asking the houseboat owners and the association concerned to insure all the heritage of the tourism sector. One fails to understand why the authorities concerned delayed the move and didn’t play its role in ensuring that all the houseboats are insured properly, which is a must as the tourists from outside usually prefer to stay in the houseboats here in Dal Lake or other lakes. Such an advisory after massive damage to several houseboats is putting a question mark over the functioning of the concerned department, which seems to be ignoring the mandatory issues. The million dollar question remains how the houseboat owners were being allowed to function without the proper insurance. The non-insurance of the houseboats is clearly pointing towards the lymphatic attitude of the officials from department concerned, who have not played their role aptly to ensure that the mandatory measures and steps are taken by the houseboat owners. It is astonishing to see that no one has been taken to the task for such a lenient attitude during the work. Moreover, there is a need to ensure that the advisory is implemented well on the ground and should not remain confined to papers only. The proper insurance to these houseboats will help the owners to take repair and other measures in case of any untoward incident and thus the houseboat owners should also take a lesson from the past and move forward to secure their property.