ALAPPUZHA: For the second consecutive year, the unrelenting coronavirus pandemic has forced the authorities to cancel the world’s largest water sports event the Nehru Trophy Boat Race. Scheduled on every second Saturday of August in the Punnamada Lake in Alappuzha, the boat race organised by the Nehru Trophy Boat Race Society is known as ‘Olympics on water’.
According to district collector and chairman of NTBR Society A Alexander, the spiralling number of Covid positive cases in the state poses a huge challenge in organising the race on the scheduled day.
“A meeting of the society will be convened and a decision taken to postpone the event. If the situation improves in the coming months, we will plan accordingly,” the collector said.
The Nehru Trophy boat race is the lifeline of the tourism sector in the district. Normally, thousands of people earn a living through the event but now everything has come to a standstill. The house boat industry alone used to fetch an average income of J1.5 crore every year in connection with the boat race.
“Around 1,500 house boats operate in the Alappuzha backwaters and each one made at least K10,000 on the race day. Hundreds of tourists used to arrive in Alappuzha from across the world to watch the the race, fetching more than Rs 50 crore. But everything is now gone,” said Biju Koshy, proprietor of Lakeland Cruise, Pallathuruthy. He said hotels, home stays, taxi services, tour guides, house boat employees and others connected to the sector have perished over the past few years.
“The Nipah outbreak of 2017, back-to-back floods in 2018 and 2019, and the Covid pandemic in the last two yearshave almost washed away the sector and a majority of the boat owners have landed in huge debt. The house boats are getting destroyed because of lack of maintenance. With engine and body parts damaged, the boats’ repair would require lakhs of rupees. So the actual loss to the sector is difficult to assess,” Biju said.
Boat clubs are also under distress due to the postponement of the event.
During the floods of 2018 and 2019, the Nehru Trophy was postponed. In 2018, which recorded the heaviest flood, the race was arranged in November and the following year towards August end. But last year it was abandoned entirely. This year too the situation is following a similar trajectory.
“We have started preliminary arrangements for the race. But chances are slim for the race to happen this year. If the government releases notification to conduct the race, we will arrange our team for the event,” said Sunil Kumar, coach of Police Boat Club that finished runners-up in the 2019 Nehru Trophy and Champions Boat League races.
Future of Champions Boat League
The future of the Champions Boat League, introduced in 2019 to huge success for both boat clubs and organisers, also hangs in the balance. It was cancelled last year and prospects look bleak this year too.