Srinagar: On a chilly winter morning, breaking the frozen layers of famed Dal Lake with his oar, boatman Mohammad Shafi Khan struggles to row his shikara (boat) towards the ghat (dock).
This doesn’t prevent him from making a regular trip to the site every day. Months of unrest and lockdown owing to the Pandemic in the Valley has hit him hard. “Whether there are tourists or not, I regularly turn up at my fixed ghat. My earnings during the past one year have been virtually nil, but where else can I go,” he asks.
Talking about the life in the lake after getting frozen, Khan says, "The lake has frozen to this extent after decades. Last time, in 1986, a jeep was driven over the dal lake. Then in 1991, the lake was frozen to that extent that locals and tourists walked over the lake. We used to play football over it."
"For tourists and visitors, this might look beautiful but for Dal residents, life gets very difficult. It becomes very hard to procure daily essential items as we have to make way for the boats first, then row towards ghat," he adds.
Also read: Dal Lake partially frozen due to gripping cold wave
Khan while expressing helplessness says, "If God forbid someone falls ill it is very hard to find transport for him and also our boats suffer damages while manoeuvring through the frozen sheets of ice. The cold wave and frozen layers of Dal add to our woes. The administration must look into our issues at the earliest."
"We don't have money to repair our boats and even if we arrange, there is a ban on mending of boats. The administration had promised package for us but we haven't received any penny so far."
