Boat clubs face resource crunch as racing begins

Alappuzha, Jul 16: Even as the hammering on boats echoes all over the Kuttanad area for this season's boat races, several boat clubs are facing a shortage of resources.

For the people of Alappuzha, boat races are the high point in the annual calendar with the kick off of the water festival season akin to the harvesting season.

Boat races are thus elevated to the level of local festivals, especially in the Kuttanad area in the southern part of Alappuzha district, from where the maximum number of boat clubs compete every year.

The first in the series of boat races, the 'Champakkulam Moolam' boat race, heralded the racing season on the Pampa river on last Monday. The 'Payippadan Chundan' bagged the crown, followed by the 'Champakkulam Chundan' and 'Sree Ganesh Chundan'.

The next is the prestigious 54th Nehru Trophy boat race, scheduled on August 12 on the Punnamada backwater. An elephant calf is the mascot for this year's contest. The construction of the temporary stadium on the banks of Punnamada backwater will start soon.

All the maintenance houses, where the 'chundan' boats are kept, are busy with the rush of workers and the sound of hammering on the boats can be heard far and wide.

The cash-strapped boat clubs are however finding themselves racing for money before they can race for the tropy. The 'Nattakom Boat Club' is an example of this crisis and may even pull out from this year's Nehru Trophy.

The members of this club were the rowers of the famous 'Karichal Chundan', which bagged the championship several times. However, no sponsors have yet come forward to meet their expenses and the balance sheet of the club carries a debt of Rs 20,000.

The 'Ambedkar Chundan' is facing a similar crisis. The boat was built by spending Rs nine lakh. During the period of the last UDF government, it was allocated Rs six lakh for maintenance, but the fund was not utilized and the boat is now lying in a shed for want of maintenance.

With its central portion broken in 2004, the remaining parts of the boat are being used to dry the uniforms of the policemen at the Pulinkunnu police station.

A boat club needs at least Rs four lakh to participate in a race.

A 'chundan' boat requires 100 rowers with at least another 20 persons kept in reserve. The rowers need to practice for at least ten days.

The boat club has to give each rower Rs 200 and other expenses, including food, as daily wage. Usually, sponsors contribute this amount when they take over a boat. But the clubs, which have not been able to get sponsors, are finding the going tough.

UNI