Kashmir's Nageen Lake Loses Its Seven Jewels To Fire

"I have never seen anything like that. It was a horrible scene of destruction of our decades-old properties. We could have saved some of our houseboats but we preferred to save the lives of tourists," says Mohammad Yousuf Badyari, 50, looking towards the burnt houseboats in the Nageen Lake in Srinagar. 

"We were faced with a tough choice of either saving the lives of tourists or our houseboats. We saved lives."

The houseboats of the Badyari family were gutted in fire a week ago, but still some senior officials and political leaders have been visiting the place daily to assess the devastation.

On the night of April 4, Yousuf Badyari and his extended family heard about their houseboats catching fire and they rushed to the spot at midnight. “There were 33 tourists, all women, in different houseboats when the fire first appeared from the India Palace houseboat. Our staff informed us about it. We live nearby and all rushed and saved all tourists. Not a single tourist sustained a bruise and we are proud of it,” says Yousuf. 

“Houseboats can be built again if you have money. But human life is precious,” he says. 

How old were these houseboats? Yousuf smiles and recalls the name of his great grandfather Abdul Razak Badyari, who in 1880 built the New Jersey Houseboat from Donga houseboat in Nageen Lake. Over the years the houseboat was repaired and it was one of the longest houseboats in Nageen Lake with around 140 ft long and a width of 18 ft.

Pointing towards the burnt New Jersey, Yousuf says that like other houseboats of his family, it was made up of Deodar (the deodar cedar) wood. The tables, chairs, sofas, and beds were all craved in walnut woodwork. 

After New Jersey, India Palace was built in the 1940s, then came Royal Paradise, Lilly of the World, New Maharaja Palace and others. “Once my great grandfather converted his donga boat into a houseboat, an American tourist came to the Valley and stayed in the boat. He told my great grandfather to name it Jersey after Jersey City in the US. It was initially registered as Jersey,” says 30-year-old Adil Ahmad Badyari. Adil says another British tourist came and stayed in the boat adjacent to Jersey. He insisted to my grandfather Mohammad Subhan Badyari that he should name it Royal Paradise. "And my grandfather did it willingly," he adds. 

“Unlike Dal Lake, Nageen is quiet and foreigners would prefer it for its calmness. In fact, in one of the letters, the foreigner had termed his stay on the boat a royal stay. He suggested to my grandfather that he must name it Royal Paradise,” says Adil. One of the biggest houseboats in Nageen was India Palace having a length of 155 ft and width of 18ft. It had five bedrooms, and a living and dining room.

After the partition when the Kashmir issue was taken to the United Nations and the UNO appointed United Nations military observers group to supervise the ceasefire between India and Pakistan in the then state of Jammu and Kashmir in 1949, the families of the UNO officers would stay at Badyari houseboats, especially India Palace. 

Film actor Raj Kapoor also frequented India Palace, says Mohammad Yousuf Badyari. Lilly of the World, which also burnt into the devastating fire, had two bedrooms and was considered one of the most luxurious houseboats on the lake, mostly used by the honeymoon couples and foreigners. "A foreign tourist stayed on the boat and wanted it to have named it Lilly of the World," says Adil.

Yousuf says they hadn't insured the houseboats. "There was no business for the past three years. This year we were planning to get insurance of the houseboats but the tragedy struck. That is why we seek the government's help," he adds.  

“It was as if Naar Mokal  (a spirit that is made up of fire) was moving around,”  says Yousuf. “I haven’t seen such devastation caused by the fire in the Lake in my lifetime.”   

"When I reached the spot from my home I already saw my family members rescuing tourists and I also helped them. One of our uncles Abdul Rashid Badyari sustained injuries during the rescue,”  says Adil Badyari. He says all tourists were from Maharashtra.