'Floating huts' to be launched into Tehri lake

Tourists visiting Uttarakhand's Tehri Jheel will soon have the added attraction of staying in 'floating huts' designed on the lines of the house boats of Dal lake in Jammu and Kashmir.
Giving the information here today state Tourism and Culture Minister Dinesh Dhanai said it will give a new dimension to tourist activities in and around the lake spread over an area of 42 square km which is nearly double the size of the Dal lake.
Initially, 10 floating huts will be launched into the lake and the number will be increased gradually depending on the response of tourists.
Modelled on the famous house boats of the lake Dal lake, each floating hut will have one 10X12 bedroom with an attached toilet and a small balcony, Dhanai said adding the design of the huts can be improvised to accommodate more rooms in the future.

The floating huts will be totally eco-friendly with their waste not to be discharged into the lake but to be deposited in a separate chamber and disposed of beyond the peripheries of the lake, the minister said.
Work on building the floating huts has already been started by a Mumbai-based company and it will take at least eight months to launch them into the lake, he said.

Each floating hut will be built at a cost of Rs 40 lakh, he said adding the entire project is being handled by the Lake Development Authority.
This is another initiative of the state government to bring Tehri lake onto the world tourism map.

Apart from being developed as a water sports hub there are many projects in the pipeline to lure tourists to the lake, Dhanai said.