Trial run of ‘water bus’ rekindles hope to reconnect with Srinagar’s past

The state-of-the-art vessel has been shipped from New Zealand

The first-ever trial run of an air-conditioned water bus on the Jhelum river, which runs through the Kashmir Valley from south to north Kashmir, on Thursday rekindled the hope of reconnecting with the dying past and providing possible alternate mode of transportation of the once buzzing nerve centre of business here. The state-of-the-art vessel has been shipped from New Zealand and was put to trial by the J&K Tourism Development Corporation (JKTDC) on a 9-km stretch from Lasjan in south Kashmir to Peerzoo in Srinagar in central Kashmir. “The water bus is a 35-seater covered boat. Trial runs are going on. We have come across a few minor difficulties and the same will be conveyed to the authorities. This will for sure give boost to tourism in the Valley,” Sukhnag Enterprises official Abdul Hanan told The Hindu.