Popular Kerala boat race called off

Kerala's top boat event - the Nehru Trophy Boat Race - has been called off for the first time in 67 years due to the situation caused by the coronavirus outbreak.

Alappuzha (Kerala): The Nehru Trophy Boat Race of Kerala (NTBR), which holds a prime position in the tourism map of Kerala, has been called off this year, owing to the COVID situation in the state.

The Nehru Trophy regatta, which has never been cancelled since its start, is off the event chart for the first time in the past 67 years. Usually, the boat race is conducted on the second Saturday of August every year in the Punnamada backwaters of Alappuzha district, in Kerala. In the last two years, the date was postponed due to the floods, but it was conducted without fail later on.

Alappuzha District Collector, A Alexander, who is also the Chairman of the Nehru Trophy Boat Race Society, informed the decision to call off the regatta here on Thursday.

In 1925, the Kerala Government had specially conducted a Kerala Snake Boat Race (Chundan Vallam Kali) during the visit of Jawaharlal Nehru, the first Prime Minister of India, to Kerala. It was with this special event that the Nehru Trophy Boat Race began. From then on, the backwater fiesta was being held every year without fail.

However, in the present situation of COVID transmission in the State, any boat races, including Nehru Trophy Boat Race, would not be conducted this year. The news has certainly dashed the hopes of all regatta lovers from Alappuzha, and all over the world.