Jobless science graduate cousins start unique tourist venture
MASROOR AHMAD
SRINAGAR: In search of livelihood, four Kashmiri men have started horse-driven buggy rides on Srinagar’s famous Nishaat Foreshore Road. They are cousins and are science graduates.
The State Times made a chat with these guys recently to get a sense of what had motivated them to start this business venture.
“We have spent a total of eight-and-a-half lakhs on this project. We spent one-and-a-half lakhs on one horse and two-and-a-half lakhs on a white horse that we purchased from Patiala, Punjab. The wooden buggy cost us four-and-a-half lakhs. Another 60,000 has covered rent and GST,” said one of them.
“We came with an idea of reviving traditional horse buggy rides in a different way. The four of us discussed a revenue share and business model. The UT government provided us with a scheme that encouraged us to begin this venture. It took us three years to get all the official permissions and required documents to ply our trade. We have been operating it for the last three days,” he said.
He said the response from the public has been very good. “People are clicking photographs; elderly and children are happy to take buggy rides; tourists are also coming forward. We are doing well.” He said a total of six people are involved in the venture.”We are getting support from the government’s PMEGP Scheme; we were able to purchase the carriage and the horses through this scheme. We have got good support. Yes, we struggled for the last three years; I had even quit last year, but have re-joined it. We take our customers on rides along the banks of the Dal Lake; we show them some of the smart city projects, there are so many things that we can show them from a tourist point of view,” he said.
Another person involved with the project said, “We wanted to offer tourists something other than Shikara rides. We started this buggy ride. It took us two months to make this buggy. We got it made from Patiala. We got the horses, got all the permissions, etc.”
“Unemployment is very high. Educated people like us have had to look for ways to earn a livelihood. I have done BSc (OT) and still haven’t got a proper job. That’s why we thought of starting this venture. Nishat Garden is a tourist hub, we get a view of Dal Lake, the mountains, and we can cover all other tourist spots like the Shalimar Gardens and Duck Park effectively,” he said. “Our business can only flourish if the local people support us. Our objective is to provide as many facilities as possible to our customers. We cousins are involved; we have a horse carriage driver too on a fixed salary, we are earning a decent income from the venture. We intend to expand this venture to four buggies,” he said.
The buggy rides cost between Rs.1000 and Rs.2000.
Buggy rides in India have a history, especially in places like Kashmir. It was once seen as the cheapest means of transport from one place to another.
