Tourists ride a shikara on Dal Lake in Kashmir

Haflong, April 28: The magic of a moonlit night on a houseboat in Srinagar?s Dal Lake is about to be recreated in Assam.

Haflong lake, located in the headquarters of the North Cachar Hills, is set to become the centrepiece of a project that aims to tap the remote but picturesque district?s tourism potential to the fullest.

One of the largest natural water bodies in Assam, the lake will be part of a tourism circuit that includes Jatinga, the village famous for the bird-suicide mystery that had baffled ornithologists for a century.

Delhi has already approved a Rs 45-crore development plan under the Rastriya Sama Vikash Yojana.

North Cachar Hills deputy commissioner Anil Kumar Borua said the district administration was taking all possible measures to make the project ?technically sound? and commercially viable.

?We are focusing on drainage and water filtration as dirty water coming down from the hills nearby may destroy the beauty of the place,? he said.

There will initially be just one houseboat for visitors, but more will be added to the fleet over the next year. ?The houseboats will be very modern, but with an ethnic touch. The boats will have air-conditioned rooms with plush furnishings,? another official of the district administration said.

The attempt to restore the beauty of Haflong lake is part of a larger plan to spruce up all scenic locations in the hilly district, bordering Karbi Anglong. The district has five natural lakes.

?These lakes are the crown jewels of the North Cachar Hills. But all of them, Haflong lake in particular, have suffered from lack of maintenance, encroachment of land in the vicinity and the hyacinth menace,? B.N. Hojai, an assistant engineer with the Haflong Town Committee, said.

?We have already cleared the hyacinth and are relaying the embankment. We will take up drainage next and expect to spend Rs 74 lakh on setting up facilities for diversion of excess water that comes in during the monsoon,? he added.

The district administration is simultaneously setting up an ethnic tourist village in Jatinga and beautifying another spot at nearby Panimur.