The houseboat industry in Kumarakom is affected as the houseboat crew has gone on indefinate strike. There are over 125 houseboats in Kumarakom.

The workers are demanding two months' salary as Onam advance while the owners are ready to give one month's salary as bonus and half-a-month's salary as advance.

Onam is the beginning of the tourism season here and many feel that a strike at this time is likely to mar the tourism prospects of the place as per a TOi report.

"This is the time tourism is peaking here. The owners and workers should co-exist without affecting the industry. Instead of holding talks after a few days strike, it is better to hold discussions before a strike. The image of the destination gets affected by these frequent strikes," said Roopesh Kumar, state coordinator, Responsible Tourism.

Last year also, the houseboat industry was affected by strikes. "In a meeting presided by tourism minister A P Anil Kumar in September last year, we had fixed the salary of the workers for two years," said Shanej Indraprastham, secretary, Houseboat Owner's Society. According to that agreement the salary was hiked from Rs 4,500 to Rs 6,850 and daily allowance from Rs 125 to Rs 170.

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