Three Rajarhat residents, who work at Eco Park, are part of the Indian team that headed for the 14th World Dragon Boat Championship in Thailand in end-August.
They were among the nine chosen from Bengal of the 42 participants from across the country who sweated it out at the national camp which took place in Eco Park.
“This is the first time rowers from Bengal are participating in the national meet. Three of them work at Eco Park,” said Hidco managing director Debashis Sen at the inauguration of a three-day competition on August 15.
The three — Afridi Ali, Rezwan Karim and Rajesh Mollah — live in the village behind Eco Park and work with Himalayan Footprints, that facilitates adventure sports at the park.
This Independence Day weekend, visitors to Eco Park got to witness these rowers in two slender boats crisscrossing the waterbody as part of their practise sessions.
“Dragon boat racing is already a part of the Asian Games. We are practising in the Eco Park lake for the last month and a half. It offers us a six-lane 1,200m straight stretch. Earlier we used to row at Rabindra Sarobar. But that has a 900m straight stretch while the international norm is 1,000m,” said Shakil Ahmed, president and founder of Bengal Watersports.
The association has purchased two dragon boats from China for Rs 8 lakh and will get six more made locally using the mould to increase the popularity of the sport in the state.
