Jammu: A 7-member panel will identify areas of concern regarding preservation of the lake bodies in Kashmir with regard to the houseboats and regulate norms and procedures adopted by the house boats.
In this connection, the government on Thursday constituted an advisory cum regulatory committee for regulating and ensuring compliance with laid down norms and procedures adopted by the house boats.
As per GAD order, the committee will comprise the Director Tourism Kashmir as its chairman while Vice Chairman Lake Conservation and Management Authority (LCMA) will be its co-chairman. Deputy Director Tourism (Registration), Secretary, LCMA; Assistant Director F&ES, Srinagar and two members of Kashmir House Boat Owners Association (KHBOA)- each nominated by the chairman KHBOA will be its members.
The mandatory functions of this advisory cum regulatory committee will be to point out measures to be taken for increasing the tourist influx to the lake in general and houseboats in particular. It will also review measures taken for proper and scientific waste disposal from the houseboats besides any other areas of concern.
The committee will also be responsible for scrutinizing all documents of houseboats for issuance or renewal of registration; ensuring adherence of the fire safety related guidelines by the houseboat owners. The panel will ensure that functional bio-digester or similar sewage treatment system for solid or liquid waste is installed. It will make surprise inspections of houseboats to check overcharging by the houseboats and facilities as per entitlement are made available to them.