Row over boats

Delhi boasts of at least five boat clubs, but few know about them as most are defunct and little more than sewage ponds. Rakesh kumar wonders why these cannot become places of tourist interest

The year was 1991, when the Capital conceived an idea of providing leisure boating for its residents by identifying potential water bodies in Delhi. Then, Delhi Tourism and Transportation Development Corporation (DTTDC) approached the land owning agencies and in due course of time various lakes were allotted to DTTDC purely with boating rights. Following this there are now six boating venues that have been developed. And this is how, the culture of boating commenced in the Capital. Apart from providing leisure, the other idea was to woo tourists (domestic as well as international) with various water sports and activities. However, 23 years later, what is the status of these boating clubs? Are they serving the purpose of being popular outings and picnic destinations in Delhi or are they mere showpieces? Why even after an increased tourist arrival in Delhi, the city’s lakes have remained less focused by the government? What is the reason that the boat club remains no longer true to its name ~ children are usually seen taking a bath or swimming throughout the summer season and tourists are missing.

The inception

Delhi has been notorious for its intolerable heat, therefore, a number of tourists try to avoid booking holidays during summer months, especially in the months of April to June. And those who belong to Delhi, and are from well-off families, get their tickets booked for various hill stations to get away from the searing heat of the Capital. Now, what about the rest, who are left behind? Or, say, those who can’t afford such luxuries? They look for alternative methods to beat the heat, one of them being water sports, including boating. To meet the needs of these people and to make Delhi more appealing for tourists, DTTDC chose five lakes to begin with, for water activities. These are: Old Fort Lake, Boat Club Krishi Bhawan, Naini Lake, Bhalswa Lake and Swarn Jayanti Park.   The most popular among these is the India Gate Boat Club. Located around India Gate, Boat Club boasts of beautifully laid lawns and water bodies. One of the canals that run parallel to the Raj Path has boating facility for families at nominal price. In the evening people flock here to walk or sit around, and children can be seen playing on the beautiful green lawns and around the trees that surround the structure.

Current status

Delhi’s six main lakes are actually meant for only water activities. However, the irony is that besides Old Fort Lake and India Gate, hardly any tourist steps into the other lakes. In other words, these water bodies have remained so in name  only. And they are mostly frequented by the club members only. Moreover, even the concerned department seems less serious to develop other clubs apart from Old Fort Lake and India Gate.
“Yes I agree apart from these two, other water bodies are not popular among the tourists. The Old Fort Lake gets the highest footfall and second on the list is India Gate canal. The reason for the popularity is that it falls along historical monuments~India Gate and Old Fort,” said a senior official of Delhi Tourism. Therefore for anyone visiting Delhi these places become a must visit. In their leisure time, they prefer to invest in boating in the backdrop of Old Fort or India Gate. But here the question raised is, what about the other lakes, why are they left unknown to the visitors or are they going to lose their importance in the near future like other water bodies, which have all but disappeared?

Apathy all over

Rajan Sehgal, a Delhi-based tour operator, claims that Delhi has a good number of visiting tourists, in the region of 216.37 lakh domestic and 18.17 lakh foreign, as per a report published by Delhi Tourism. However, in many instances the city fails to cash in on them properly. “If you talk about only boating, Old Fort Lake could be the best place for water activities as it is a natural lake with a monument for backdrop. But it is not maintained well. Therefore, it has not been getting its due,” informed Sehgal.
Delhi had around 611 water bodies. Of these, 274 are already extinct, while the rest are also on the verge of extinction, thanks to nothing more than lack of maintenance. The remaining 337 that still have water in them are in a terrible condition. Bhalaswa Lake in the North has turned into a sewage pond.  Neela Hauz Lake in the South and Sanjay Lake in the East are going the same way. Between 1997 and 1998, a total of 21 water bodies disappeared from the map of Delhi.
But the DDA, MCD, block development officers and Delhi Jal Board are in a deep slumber even as the city grapples with water shortage year after year. “I know there are so many problems, but we only take care of activities happening on water. Some of the lakes fall under DDA, MCD and ASI, therefore, we can’t take responsibility for cleaning them,” said another officer of Delhi Tourism.

Shifting blame

When the same question was posed to the Delhi Tourism officials, they were quick to defend themselves. “We are responsible for the activities held on water only. We deal with the boats, promotion of boating activities and so on,” said a senior official. “In terms of promoting them, we are doing so many things ~ we are organising various festivals and water-related sports. We change the boats every three years and replace those which are meant to be replaced.”

Ever since, boating activities were introduced to Delhi, the major concern is cleanliness, as most of the lakes are very dirty. Many are facing lack of basic faciliti

es. “Forget about the foreigners, even domestic tourists will think a hundred times before opting for boating as they are so dirty and full of mosquitoes. By ignoring all these, if they still go ahead, then problems like lack of basic amenities come forward. Would you believe it, they didn’t even have toilets,” said a tour operator.

The real problem

If one were to talk about the main concerns, apart from dirtiness, Delhi lacks a natural big lake unlike other cities such as Bhopal, Hyderabad, Chandigarh or Nainital. Therefore, this also prevents Delhi’ites from enjoying actual boat rides. For instance, the popular Old Fort Lake is natural but it is too small to have any big motor-boats, the other popular India Gate is a man-made canal, where one can’t expect any boat bigger than pedal boats. And the rest of the  boat clubs are less attractive from tourists point of view. “This is the major problem for us. Therefore, we can’t use other motor boats and other water sports to promote water activities,” said the Delhi Tourism official.

BHALSWA LAKE
LAND OWNING AGENCY: Development Commissioner

Delhi Tourism and Transportation Development Corporation Ltd. started boating operations in Bhalswa Lake in May 1992. The lake belongs to Divisional Commissioner, Government of Delhi. DTTDC is not paying any revenue to the office of Divisional Commissioner for the boating activity. DTTDC organised National Championship of Kayaking and Canoeing at Bhalswa Lake during 1993-94 & 1995-96. The lake is rain-fed and there is no other source of water in the lake.  The land where the Boat House is situated belongs to DDA and was constructed by the DDA for DTTDC as deposit work. No formal allotment of this land has been made by DDA to DTTDC.
DTTDC is also imparting training in kayaking and canoeing at Bhalswa Lake. After training some of the boys were selected for Para Military Forces.

 NAINI LAKE (Model Town)
 LAND OWNING AGENCY: North Delhi Municipal Corporation

DTTDC started boating at Naini Lake in 1992. DTTDC pays 12.5 per cent of the gross receipt to North DMC as their share. Besides pedal boats, Delhi Tourism provides motor boat rides. A small cafeteria is also there to cater to visitors. A musical fountain has been installed by former MLA from MLA funds.

BOAT CLUB, KRISHI BHAWAN
LAND OWNING AGENCY: CPWD

Originally boating was started in the water channel adjacent to India Gate monument, during 1991 after obtaining permission from NDMC. At present, CPWD is the land owning agency. The DTTDC pays 12.5 per cent of gross sale to CPWD. Since December 2012, boating activities were closed on the directions of Delhi Police due to security reasons on the water channel adjacent to India Gate. On the request of DTTDC, the water channel near Krishi Bhawan was given to DTTDC to operate boating. Boating here was started from 1st July 2013.)

OLD FORT LAKE
LAND OWNING AGENCY: ASI

Boating was started in 1992. Initially DDA was the land owning agency. But now the lake and its surroundings belong to ASI. DTTDC shares 12.5 per cent of total revenue generated at Old Fort Lake with ASI. 

 SWARN JAYANTI PARK
LAND OWNING AGENCY: DDA
Boating activity was started here in 2011. Earlier, the response was good but due to law and order situation in the park, DDA restricted the opening of the park to limited hours, which badly affected boating. Recently, the timings for boating were restored.