Power Crisis: Tourists leave with a bad taste; Houseboat owners claim drop in bookings

Srinagar: The power crisis, that Kashmir is currently face to face with, is marring the travel experience of thousands of tourists who visit the valley from different regions of India and abroad.
Kashmir for the last two months has been reeling under an acute power crisis, which has left both domestic as well as commercial consumers worried.
As per news agency KNO, from hotels to houseboats, frequent power cuts are causing huge discomfort to the tourists staying currently in the valley.
“We have been staying in Kashmir for the last seven days and we loved this place. What we experienced here is that the region faces frequent power cuts, which is causing immense trouble to the tourists,” said Suraiya Khan, a tourist from Maharashtra.
She said due to the power cuts, the hotels and houseboats fail to provide them uninterrupted power supply.
“Though they use generators and inverters, the electricity supply is still not enough. The winter chill is causing an immense problem when there is no electricity round the clock,” Khan said.
Travel Agents Association of Kashmir president Rauf Ahmad Tramboo said they often get to hear complaints about lack of electricity from the tourists.
“As already we have no nightlife here, the lack of electricity is causing immense problems to the tourists. The tourists leave with a bad impression about Kashmir when these facilities are not available,” he said.
Chairman Kashmir Houseboat Owners Association Manzoor Ahmad Pakhtoon said the current power scenario was causing a huge loss to the houseboat owners in particular.
“Since majority of the houseboats are stationed in Dal Lake, the mercury here is too low. In the absence of power, the tourists don’t get the desired facilities following which they cancel their stay in the houseboats. Even now, the majority of the tourists don’t book houseboats and prefer to stay in hotels,” he said.
Hoteliers said the current power scenario was overburdening them as they have to bear enough expenses to manage electricity through generators and other equipment.
“Customers don’t face any issues as we ensure them electricity throughout their stay in a hotel. It is actually overburdening the hoteliers who are using generators round the clock. Our entire profit goes in managing electricity for our customers during winter,” Abdul Wahid Malik, former president, Kashmir Hotels and Restaurants Owners Federation said.