Owing to its population of whooping 1.25 billion has led India to become the largest in many scenarios including postal services. India has the largest postal service network in the world and has the largest number of post offices in the entire world. But when it comes to doing something innovative postal department is the last thing that comes to one’s mind. This time, however, the department is in the news because of the innovative and pleasantly unique way of giving services to the people.

The Only Floating Post Office of India on Dal Lake, Srinagar

Many would know Srinagar, the beautiful city which is also the capital of Kashmir for many scenic destinations such as Mughal Gardens, Chashma Shahi, Nishat Bagh etc. but very few would be aware of the floating post office in Srinagar. Yes, this is a post office that floats on water!

The presence of house boat in the Dal Lake is a well known fact by all. But, what is not known that one of these house boats has a post office. The post office is housed in one of the largest houseboats in Dal Lake and is only one of its kinds in the world. This beautiful post office floating on the turquoise waters of the famous Dal is a magnificent thing to be witnessed by your eyes.

This post office is a heritage post office and it is said to have existed since the British times. After independence it was called as Nehru Park post until 2011 when its name was changed by John Samuel who was the chief Post Master in those times.

This new post office with museum was formally re-inaugurated by Omar Abdullah who was the Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir at that time. This inauguration was also done by Sachin Pilot who was the Union Minister for State for Communication and IT.

This post office is a great way for the tourists to send the news of their well being to their family members. Many of them row to the floating house boat to send post cards all around the world. The main attraction of sending the post card from here is that your mail goes with a special a special design that bears the beauty of the Dal Lake as well as Srinagar.

This Post Office, though is tourist friendly and is a great way of keeping in touch with their loved ones but this is not it. This post office that remains a great attraction for the tourists is the main center for the locals that they use to deposit their money in here. They use it to complete their normal work related to post office. In 2014, the floods that hit Srinagar had also posed grave dangers to the post office that had to be rescued by the rescue forces. At that time the house boat was uncontrollably propelled by the storming water and had to be anchored to the highland for keeping it safe from damage.

This is one of the things that no one visiting Srinagar must miss as it not only is a window to the history but is also a heritage that is important for the area.

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