A traditional Shikara converted into a water ambulance has been helping the residents of Dal Lake get timely medical aid

Last year in August, when Tariq Ahmad Patloo, a houseboat owner in Srinagar, was infected with Covid and needed a ride to Srinagar’s SMHS Hospital, his own community failed him. He was unable to find a shikara to take him across the lake. Even after his recovery, the memory of that apathy haunted him more than the virus. Upon regaining his strength, Patloo began looking into the idea of starting a water ambulance service to help those Covid patients who are unable to find support. However, at above Rs 20 lakh, the cost of a commercial water ambulance—a motorised boat equipped with materials and devices to provide life-saving, immediate medical intervention—proved to be unaffordable for Patloo. So, instead, he converted a traditional shikara into a make-shift ambulance with financial assistance from the Satya Rekha Trust.