Covid and bureaucracy, so the floating houses of Kashmir die

SRINAGAR – The Kolahai houseboat moored on the picturesque Dal Lake in Srinagar, the summer capital of the Indian-administered region of Jammu and Kashmir, has a shabby appearance. Abdul Khaliq, 80, sits at the window of the wooden structure, thinking back to the good old days of the early seventies and sixties, when tourists from all over the world visited his houseboat.