The residential houseboat situated at Abi Guzar faced severe damages in 2014 deluge. “ around 11pm last night , the houseboat collapsed, resulting in loss of property worth crores,” said Bashir Ahmad Gasi, an owner of the houseboat.
“Following the 2014 deluge in Kashmir, we were assured by the government that they will provide assistance to them to repair their houseboats but unfortunately, nothing was done in this regard,” he added.
Gasi said that the government left them on god’s mercy. “If the flood assistance would have been provided to us, we could have saved our residential place from sinking. We lost everything in the overnight incident. Our utensils, clothes and other things were damaged during the incident,” he said.
He said that small children, his wife, daughter-in-law and other family members were present in the houseboat when it sunk. “We were rescued by the neighbors. They risked their lives and saved us,” Gasi said.
The neighbors of Gasi told KNS that the family lost everything in the incident and have no place to live. “The family is living under open sky. We on behalf of the family appeal government to look into the hardships of the said family and provide immediate relief to them so that they can once again live life.”
He said that there are several other houseboats which were damaged in 2014 deluge. “We appeal authorities to look into the miseries of affected families and provide assistance to them at earliest,” he added.