Srinagar, Dec. 5 -- As sixth houseboat recently sank in the covid-crippled year of 2020, tourism players held the ban on renovation responsible for alarming fall and gradual fading of Kashmir's iconic floating houses.

WHEN a midnight creaking sound followed by a thud jolted Farooq Nagoo out of his sleep on December 3, 2020, he heard an alarming spurt of water.

His seven-member family, including his three daughters and two sons, woke up and wondered about the nocturnal wobbling in their houseboat on river Jhelum in Srinagar.

"We thought earthquake hit us," recalled Nagoo, 45-year-old owner of H.B Prince House.

After tremors, his houseboat tilted towards left. It panicked his family. Next, Jhelum's murky, cold water flooded his bedroom ...