KOTTAYAM: Kumarakom is one of the most beautiful regions
in Kerala, where thousands of tourists throng to enjoy houseboat tour over the
pristine and charming backwater. But this beautiful town is going thought some
tough time as there is possibility that the houseboat industry in Kumarakom is
likely to get shut down from Tuesday, if both the side the houseboat owners and
the Union Leaders do not come to an amicable agreement.
There are around
125 houseboats in Kumarakom and the workers are demanding two month’s salary as
Onam Advance while the owners of the houseboats are ready to give one month
salary as bonus while half of the month’s salary as advance. Onam is the beginning of tourism season in
Kerala and Kumarakom and if the strike is held, it is likely to impact the
tourism of the place.
“This is the
time tourism is always at its peak here. The owners and the workers should
co-exist and instead of impacting the tourism, it is better to have talks
before the strike. If there is strike, the tourism industry gets affected and
more of all the image of the place as a tourism destination also gets
affected,”said Roopesh Kumar, state Co-ordinator, Responsible Tourism.
Last year also,
the houseboat industry was affected due to strikes. “ In a meeting, presided by
tourism minister A P Anil Kumar in September last year, we had fixed the salary
of the houseboat workers for two years,” said Shanej Indraprastham, secretary,
Houseboat Owner’s Society. During the meeting an agreement was made and in the
salary was hiked from 4,500 to 6,850 and also a daily allowance from Rs 125 to
Rs 170.
“Already the
houseboat industry is going through a tough time and in the business in last
few months business has been largely affected due to floods, rain, spread of
diseases and also due to the global economic crisis,” he said.
“Now if we give
way to this demands of the workers, a boat owner with three staff has to pay a
total of 61,650 extra as a salary and bonus for this month,” he said.
“Such strikes
announced at a short notice are unsympathetic on tourists and we have made
advance booking these days,” he added.
Ratheesh
Vituppukala, president of the Kottayam Unit of Kerala Houseboat and Resort
workers Union (CITU) said that the workers are not asking for the hike in
salary and this question does not arise here.
“We are only
asking for bonus.” he said. “The owners are not giving any importance to our
demand and they are not even bothered to call us for a talk. So from Tuesday,
we have organized for a strike,” he said.
Around 110 workers of the houseboat industry are associated with the
Trade Union, he added.
