Water sports club to come up in city 

A Water Sports Club will start functioning in the city very soon. Water sports lovers are trying to launch the club at Punnami Ghat on the bank of River Krishna. Vijayawada-based sports lovers formed the club.

The State government is showing special interest in water sports and encouraging youth to participate in water sports. The Andhra Pradesh Tourism Development Corporation (APTDC) has been encouraging boating activity at Seethanagaram of Guntur and at Punnami Ghat in Vijayawada on the banks of River Krishna.

The government has identified a lot of potentiality to develop water sports not only in the city but also at Brahmayyalingam Cheruvu (tank) at Thotapalli near Gannavaram and at Hamsaladeevi near Avanigadda in Krishna district. The State government will try to develop Brahmayyalingam tank as a tourist spot in the future. The Water Sports Club has selected the tank to conduct further activities.

The club organising committee is taking all the necessary steps to register the club as per government norms. The club representatives have already applied for club registration at the registrar’s office. They also applied for prior permission from Andhra Pradesh Sports Authority (SAAP) and APTDC.

The club has ordered two boats for conducting training camp for youth. The organisers also approached navel officers to conduct coaching camp at Vijayawada. They have a plan to conduct a coaching camps in the city next year.

According to the club secretary, Ramba Durga Prasad, the club would start its activities in January 2017. They would conduct a State-level water sports championship in February 2017. He said that the club was planning to create a permanent water sports training centre in and around the city. The club selected Brahmayyalingam tank and Hamsaladeevi for imparting training, he said.

He further informed that they were planning to conduct a national-level water sports event in the city. Prasad said that the club would plan to offer free training in water sports with the cooperation of navel department. He said the club had already approached the department in this connection.

Durga Prasad said that initially the club formed an organising committee with a businessman P Ramesh as its president and Dasari Ramesh as secretary.