Born again from water

It won’t be an exaggeration if Alappuzha is called a phoenix. The district, which was reduced to ashes in the recent floods, has bounced back with more power and enthusiasm, and is now hosting the 66th Nehru Trophy Boat Race. A risky decision, precisely because the area is still recovering from the calamity, which has in turn adversely affected the livelihood of the majority of the people. The monetary help provided by the state government as part of flood relief was not enough to bring back the district in the must-visit list of the tourists. The district administration, in association with the people, therefore decided to announce it to the entire world that Alappuzha was again open to tourists, by organising the world famous snake boat race.

Alappuzha Sub-collector Krishna Teja IAS is one of the officials who worked day and night to help the people achieve it. “Alappuzha is flocked by tourists mainly in August, September and October when the boat race usually takes place. However, this year the number of tourists who came to Kuttanad is very small. The sole aim of organising 66th Nehru Trophy Boat Race, in spite of many difficulties, is to let the tourists all over the world know that Alappuzha and its landscape including the beautiful backwaters and lagoons are once again ready to welcome everyone who would like to explore its pristine beauty. Even though there are many constraints this time, we are confident about the planning, which has been done in the most unique manner,” he says.

The sub-collector adds that the uniqueness of the 66th Nehru Trophy Boat Race is the effort and thought process put behind designing the event. “For the first time in the history, Nehru Trophy Boat Race is women-friendly, child-friendly, disabled-friendly, senior citizen-friendly and will abide to the green protocol. We have made all necessary arrangements for the same. There is a different pavilion for the differently-abled people so that they can comfortably sit and watch the race. Moreover, ample toilet facilities for women and children have been arranged. Various groups of volunteers — Green, Yellow, Red, Blue and Black warriors — have been assigned to take care of each facility.”

In order to spread the message and invite more tourists to Alappuzha, a houseboat rally was put together by the District Promotion Tourism Council. The rally named ‘Back To Backwaters’ was inaugurated by cricketer Kedar Jadhav and Tourism Minister Kadakampally Surendran. The rally saw around 220 houseboats giving rides to people through the backwaters.

Elaborating more about idea, District Tourism Promotion Council secretary Malin Muralidharan says, “Alappuzha is a district where more than 3,000 families make their livelihood depending on the backwaters, in one way or the other. It is very unfortunate that as the district has been neglected by tourists, these people are left jobless. Therefore, it was an immediate need to do something impactful in order to bring back the lost glory of the place. I don’t think anything more effective could have been done other than hosting the Nehru Trophy Boat Race.”

The hurdles, however, are many according to Joseph Elamkulam, AIR commentator for the boat race, financial constraint being the major one. “Every club that takes part in the race is sponsored by different individuals and organisations. An amount between '50 lakh to 1 crore is required for each club to take part in the race. As the floods have made the situation worse, many sponsors have backed out. This has in turn affected the preparations that the oarsmen had to do. Moreover, the tickets were sold out at a slow pace, which makes us skeptical. However, the ray of hope is that the authorities have helped us in every possible manner.”

The race which usually takes place on the second Saturday of August, is shifted to the second Saturday of November. Moreover, if the reports are to be believed, for the first time 81 boats will take part in the race. Above all, rehabilitating Alappuzha is the most important target that is to be achieved.