Alappuzha: A baby elephant rowing a snake boat is the mascot of the 69th Nehru Trophy Boat Race (NTBR) to be held at Punnamada backwaters here on August 12.

The mascot designed by P Devaprakash (Artist Devaprakash), a native of Kulamavu in Idukki, was unveiled at the collectorate here on Friday.

Thomas K Thomas MLA and actor Gayathri Arun handed over the mascot to district Collector Haritha V Kumar, who is also the chairperson of the NTBR Society.

The organisers had received over 250 entries for the mascot-drawing competition, from which the work of artist Devaprakash was selected. He will receive prize money of Rs 5,001.

“I’m a native of Cherthala, and my childhood days are filled with memories of boat race events. I used to wait for my father returning home with a cap displaying the sign of the boat race just days before the event,” Gayathri Arun said.

Meanwhile, the mascot is yet to be named and the organisers are holding a separate competition to find a suitable name.

Online ticket sales
P P Chitharanjan MLA launched the website for the 69th edition of NTBR. He also inaugurated online ticket sales for the annual regatta event, which is done through South Indian Bank, Ticketgenie, and Paytm Insider.

Click here or here to purchase the tickets online. The minimum ticket fare is Rs 100/person (lawn) while the ‘Tourist Gold’ is priced at Rs 3000/person (Nehru pavilion).

So far 16 snake boats have registered for the competition. The registration process is open till July 25.

Parking of boats
Meanwhile, boat club owners need to pay fees in advance for parking boats near the track on the event day. The fee for boats with a carrying capacity of 10 persons is Rs 10,000, while it is Rs 15,000 for boats that can carry 10-15 persons and Rs 20,000 for those which can carry 15-20 persons.

Larger boats that carry over 20 persons need to dole out Rs 35,000 and those with upper decks, Rs 50,000, the authorities said.