Rs 25 lakh for Champions Boat League winner

The Kerala state Tourism department has announced Rs 25 lakh cash prize for the winners of Champions Boat League tournament. “The boat races in the state will be promoted as a major attraction for International tourists visiting the state,” said Kadakampally Surendran, Minister for Tourism.

The Champions Boat League is organized with the intention to generate more excitement to this sporting event and for the promotion of boat races, he added. “Promoting boat races will attract more international and domestic tourists to the state,” said the minister.

Kadakampally also said that the past glory of the boat races has got diminished due to the high financial requirements for its conduct and high maintenance costs of boats.

The 2018 edition of the Nehru Trophy Boat Race (NTBR) will be held at the Punnamada Lake in Alappuzha on August 11. This time 78 boats will contest in different categories in the race. 25 snakeboats will participate in the 66th edition of the boat race.

Twenty sic boats in iruttu kuthi A, four boats each in churulan and iruttu B, nine boats in veppu A and seven boats in veppu B categories will also compete in the race. Three boats will participate in thekkanodi category for women.

This time around, there will be a special gallery for women and children to watch the boat race. Also, senior citizens will get special seats and refreshments during the race. The society has also set up ramps for disabled people.

From this time onwards, the state government is planning to conduct the boat race in Indian Premier League model and has already christened it as Kerala Boat Race League. The League will commence with the Nehru Trophy Boat Race in Alappuzha and conclude with the President’s Trophy in Kollam. The Nehru Trophy Race is the qualifying race for the league, which will have 12 races in total.