BARDIYA: Final preparations for the World Elephant Polo Competition to be held at Thakurdwar of Baridya from tomorrow have been completed.

World Elephant Polo Federation and Tiger Tops Karnali Lodge are the organisers of the competition. Cleanliness of the venue, its demarcation and physical infrastructures have been completed, said federation member Timothy Edwards.

Prior to this, the competition held since 1982 was organising at Meghauli of Chitwan. According to Gauri Malakar, manager of Tiger Tops Karnali Lodge, two bighas of land located on the premises of the lodge has been selected for the competition. Out of the total 16 elephants to be used for the competition, Bardiya National Park (BNP) would provide 10 and others have been arranged by the lodge itself, said Malakar.

The competition will start on November 30 and end on December 5. A total of 12 foreign and domestic teams from the UK, USA, Singapore, Scotland, Tiger Tops Karnali and National Park are taking part in the contest. The competition is expected to help promote tourism and make the district known globally, said BNP's chief conservation officer Tika Ram Adhikari.