Alappuzha, Sep 28 (IANS): Kariachal snake boat defeated rival Veeyapuram snake boat in a nail-biting finish during the prestigious 70th Nehru Boat Race on Saturday at the Punnamada Lake in Kerala.

Saturday’s win marks the fifth straight win for the Kariachal who have won the coveted Nehru Boat Race 16 times.

The Kariachal was declared the winner as their snake boat breasted the tape in 4.29.785 minutes while the Veeyapuram snake boat was behind by 5 microseconds.

The length of the race track is 1.100 kilometres and it was after five heats the four finalists were selected and Kariachal won the final race.

The length of a snake boat varies from 120 to 140 feet. There are about 120 oarsmen, with the captain and his associates standing on the boat and giving directions to the oarsmen.

Every inch of the banks of the Punnamada Lake place was taken over by a large number of foreign tourists who have been arriving since last week and all the seats at the finishing point of the event were sold a few days back.

Incidentally, while there are races in numerous categories besides a mass drill by all the competing boats, the most awaited event is the snake boat race.

The history of this race is associated with Late Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru's visit to the state in 1952 when a pageantry of boats accompanied him on his trip from Kottayam to Alappuzha.

This was an impromptu race conducted in Late Prime Minister Nehru’s honour.

Nehru, who was thrilled by the performance of the oarsmen, jumped into the "Nadubhagam Chundan" (a snake boat) forgetting all security arrangements. The boat proceeded to the jetty with the then Prime Minister on board.

On returning to Delhi, Nehru donated a silver trophy, a replica of a snake boat placed on a wooden abacus with an inscription and his signature.

This is the trophy that the winner in the snake boat category gets and what has now become a habit for the Kariachal snake boat, they went home for the fifth consecutive time with the Nehru trophy.