Nigeen Tourism Traders Association (NTTA) on Tuesday demanded consultation of houseboat owners in formulation of Houseboat policy.
“There are thousands of families whose livelihood directly or indirectly depends on the houseboats and drafting a competent response to any policy which could play an important role in shaping the same and that too in a short time of few days would not be a wise move,” Chairman NTTA Manzoor Wangnoo said in a statement.
“The houseboat owners are the primary stakeholders. Therefore, their views and response is of paramount importance. For the sake of justice it would be fair to allow ample time to the houseboats owners to file their response who are totally disturbed owing to the present circumstances and are facing the brunt for nearly a year now,” he said.
“With onslaught of COVID-19 pandemic and the recent guidelines “unlock 2″ issued by the government, the large gatherings are still banned. Therefore, it is practically impossible to call upon a meeting (owing to the short period given to file our response) where we could seek suggestions from every stakeholder,” he added.