By next summer, the idyllic waterways that once saw Mughal empresses making their way to the fabled gardens at the base of the Zabarwan hills from Srinagar’s fort will have covered, battery-powered boats reaching even the city’s interiors as part of a public transport network.
“We are all set to introduce water transport on the Dal lake and Jhelum river in Srinagar to decongest and offer an alternative mode of public transport. The process of approving boat samples is in its final stage. Two types of boats — eight-seaters and 20-seaters — will be introduced in the first phase by next year,” Anuj Malhotra, general manager, planning, Srinagar Smart City Limited, told The Hindu.
Thirty-two boats will serve the lake and river, criss-crossing even the old city, rich with its built heritage, and the shrines dotting the riverfront. “It will be a zero pollution, and affordable public transport,” Mr. Malhotra said. “It is in no way competition to the leisure rides of shikaras,” he added.
Also planned are a cafeteria, public spaces, and shelters around the lake.
Spread over 18 sq. km., the Dal lake’s bewitching beauty has fascinated locals and outsiders for centuries. The lake’s shoreline of 15.5 km provides access to different localities, including the Hazratbal shrine and the fabled Nishat and Shalimar gardens, earning Srinagar the epithet of ‘Venice of the East’.
According to the official plan, the new boats will use the traditional causeways to cover the five basins of the lake — the Nehru Park basin, the Nishat Bagh basin, the Hazratbal basin, the Nigeen basin, and the Barari Nambal basin. “It would require a lot of dredging, which will be carried out on waterways like the Dalgate-Rainawari route,” Mr. Malhotra said.
This will be the first time since the 1960s that the Dal lake’s backwaters will be opened to visitors, especially the Dalgate-Rainawari-Hazratbal waterway. The process of identifying choked canals, the result of rapid urbanisation, is underway.
“We have already made the water canal access to the Shalimar garden navigable. Travellers could just get off in front of the Shalimar garden now,” Mr. Malhotra said. The once defunct canal now has concrete retaining walls and lamp-posts.
“Till 150 years ago, the Mughal gardens were only accessible from the lake,” Saleem Beg, convener of the Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (INTACH), Kashmir chapter, said. “There was no boulevard earlier. When the Nishat and Shalimar gardens were constructed, Mughal nobles viewed them from the lake. The lake, in fact, was an integral part of the landscape as well as the gardens. The project to revive waterways in the backwaters, including Rainawari-Nigeen, will put a rare spotlight on it. These boat rides are going to offer an added experience to visitors for sure.”
The boats could also aerate choked sections of the lake. “I foresee water quality getting better if boats with no fossil fuel emissions are introduced. Churning of water is essential for the lake,” Mr. Beg said.
Public transport on the Dal lake is a part of the ₹980 crore Srinagar Smart City project, which has already added pedestrian markets and walkways on the Jhelum riverfront to the landscape.
