The Kainakary Village Boat Club (VBC) lodged a formal complaint with Alappuzha District Collector Alex Varghese on Sunday, contesting the decision to award the 2024 Nehru Trophy to Pallathuruthy Boat Club (PBC) based on a millisecond difference. The plaintiff submitted the complaint via email, and VBC representatives plan to meet the collector in person on Monday. VBC also announced its decision to escalate the matter to the Kerala High Court, reported Manorama News.
PBC's Karichal Chundan clinched the title on Saturday, finishing in 4.29785 minutes, while VBC's Veeyapuram Chundan secured second place with a time of 4.29790 minutes—merely 0.0005 seconds behind.
VBC argued that it was unfair to declare PBC the winner based on such a narrow margin and demanded that both boats be recognised as joint winners. They also requested access to the event organisers' official video footage of the race. When their demands were unmet, VBC members protested at the VIP pavilion until 8 pm on Saturday before police intervened and dispersed the crowd. Meanwhile, the event organisers maintained that in a time-based competition, every second counts.
It was the fifth consecutive win for PBC and a historic 16th win for the boat Karichal Chundan. Nadubhagam Chundan from Kumarakom Town Boat Club claimed third place in the final, while Niranam Chundan from Niranam Boat Club finished fourth. Remarkably, all teams in the final crossed the finish line with less than a one-second difference.
