Mehbooba Mufti Visits Families Affected By Dal Lake Fire, Seeks Soft Loans

PDP president Mehbooba Mufti on Sunday visited the affected families who lost their houseboats and dwellings in a fire on Saturday. Three Bangladeshi tourists had died in the incident.

"Visited Dal (Lake), where several houseboats were ravaged by a massive fire on Saturday. Apart from extensive damage, three tourists tragically died despite the efforts of locals," Ms Mufti posted on X.

She requested the Jammu and Kashmir administration headed by Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha to provide soft loans to the affected families so that they could rebuild their houseboats.

"Request @manojsinha_ ji to provide soft loans & other essentials necessary for houseboat owners to rebuild. Perhaps in the future moving fire stations will help to prevent such incidents," she added.

Apni Party leader Altaf Bukhari, while expressing sympathies with the affected, urged the administration to assess the losses and compensate the victims accordingly.

"Sympathies with the houseboat owners of Dal Lake who have lost property worth crores in a devastating fire mishap today. May the victims find strength in these testing times. I urge the authorities to assess the loss caused to the property and compensate the victims accordingly," Mr Bukhari said.

A team of Apni Party leaders, including Noor Mohammad and Ashraf Mir, visited the site of the incident in the Dal Lake.

Expressing anguish over the incident, Lt Governor Sinha on Saturday said, "I am deeply pained by the loss of lives due to the unfortunate fire incident at the Dal Lake, Srinagar. My heartfelt condolences to the bereaved families. I have directed the district administration to provide all necessary assistance to the affected people." Srinagar Deputy Commissioner Mohammad Aijaz and senior tourism department officials visited the scene of the blaze on the Dal Lake and assured all possible help in rebuilding the damaged houseboats, the officials said.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)