Malabar River Fest in limbo

KOZHIKODE: There is a question mark on the foreign participation in the  much-hyped Malabar river festival this year as the prize money for the last year’s  Kayaking competition  held eight months ago  is yet to be distributed citing technical reasons and shortage of funds.   The tourism project was envisaged by the District Tourism Promotion Council (DTPC) and the district administration.  

An amount of Rs 10 lakh, including Rs 7 lakh that was kept apart as the prize money for the winners of Kayaking championship,  is yet to be distributed.  At the same time, the Kayaking academy has  announced   the fourth edition of the  festival  in July in spite of having no hope of getting foreign participants.

According to Mr V.D. Joseph, in charge  of Kerala Kayaking Academy, the future of the festival is in trouble with the lackadaisical attitude of both the DTPC and the district administration. “The district collector who is the sitting chairman of DTPC was  responsible for  releasing the fund, but citing various issues, the amount was withheld,”  he said.

Mr Manik Taneja, Kayaking championship host,  said  they were not confident of inviting foreign participation.  “Since the officials in charge of DTPC change  now and then, we cannot  approach them,” he said.

Collector N. Prasanth said, “the amounts are yet to be released because of confusion on the details of the participants and  fund crunch with DTPC. Once  the confusion is  over, the amount will be released,” he said.

This year,  Kerala Kayaking Academy has announced the fourth edition of Malabar river festival from July 29 to 31 at Thusharagiri. Unlike previous year, 10 Kayaking participants from Kozhikode district, at present undergoing training with the academy, will compete  with the foreign champions. “We have already announced the dates,”  said Mr V.D. Joseph.