The houseboat sector was among the first to come to a grinding halt after the COVID-19 pandemic started to sweep the world earlier this year.
With the crisis unlikely to subside anytime soon, houseboat owners and people who are attached directly and indirectly with the backwater tourism industry are a worried lot. Houseboat owners say it will be difficult to keep the business afloat without government intervention. “Demonetisation, Nipah outbreak, and back-to-back floods had put an enormous strain on the industry. The sector was on the path to recovery when COVID-19 dashed all hopes. Even if the pandemic is brought under control, it will take a year to bring the tourism sector back on track. The State government should intervene to prevent the industry from collapsing,” says Vinod V., president, All Kerala Houseboat Owners Association.
There are around 700 licensed boats in the district. Besides, a large number of boats ply without mandatory licence and registration. Around 8,000 people are attached directly with the sector and many thousands indirectly. A large number of them have already become jobless.
One-year moratorium
Houseboat owners say that the losses suffered due to COVID-19 outbreak runs into crores. According to them, they will have to spend huge amounts of money for carrying out the maintenance of the boats that remain defunct for the past several months. “Ninety percent of the houseboat owners have taken loans from public/cooperative banks and other financial institutions to run the business. With COVID-19 putting a brake on all houseboat operations, owners are in deep financial crisis. The government should initiate steps to provide interest-free loans. It should also extend the moratorium on banks loans from three months to one year,” Mr. Vinod says.
The owners have also urged the government to extend the soon to-be-expiring registration, fitness, licence, and pollution control board certificates of the boats by a year.
Kevin Rozario, general secretary, All Kerala Houseboat Owners and Operators Samithi, says that unlike other businesses, it will take months to revive the backwater tourism sector post lockdown. “The government should immediately intervene in the matter and announce measures needed to keep the sector afloat,” he says.
