SRINAGAR: The owner of the ‘Cherry Stone’ houseboat gutted in a fire incident at Dal Lake’s Karpora area has strongly rebutted the clarification issued by the Fire and Emergency Services Department, asserting that the property was neither abandoned nor insignificant, and that the loss suffered was substantial.
Responding to the department’s claim that the houseboat was old, abandoned and non-operational, the owner said that “property is property” and that the loss cannot be dismissed merely by branding the houseboat as abandoned. He said the houseboat had been temporarily closed due to a lack of tourist rush and was not permanently shut or discarded.
Calling the department’s assertion that only a portion of the houseboat was damaged an irony, the owner said nearly 90 percent of the structure was destroyed in the fire. “To say that only a small portion was gutted is far from the truth. A major part of my houseboat was lost to the fire,” he said.
The owner further alleged that instead of acknowledging the gravity of the incident and the extent of property loss, the department appeared to be downplaying the fire itself. “The picture being painted suggests as if no fire erupted and no loss occurred. This is deeply unfortunate,” he said.
He maintained that the houseboat, named Cherry Stone, was worth over Rs 2 crore and represented years of investment and livelihood. He expressed disappointment that more emphasis was being placed on technicalities rather than addressing the cause of the fire and the effectiveness of the firefighting response.
The owner urged authorities to conduct a fair and transparent assessment of the damage and investigate the actual cause of the fire, rather than minimising the incident. [KNT]
