All arrangements in place for polling day in Lucknow

Lucknow The district administration has completed preparations to draw voters out of their homes and ensure a smooth and efficient polling process on Monday.

With 39,53,287 eligible voters in the city, authorities have meticulously organized 3,767 polling booths in 1544 polling stations to accommodate the electorate. To manage the flow of voters and maintain order, the administration has capped the number of voters per booth at 1,500.

District magistrate (DM) of Lucknow Suryapal Gangwar , who is overseeing the electoral preparations, said that all voters would receive VIP treatment on voting day. This initiative aimed at enhancing the voting experience and encouraging maximum participation. Arrangements have been made for sheds at every polling booth and cold drinking water .

In addition to the government’s efforts, various departments and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) have come forward to adopt booths. These model booths are set up to provide an exemplary voting experience and showcasing best practices in terms of infrastructure, accessibility and voter assistance, as per DM Suryapal Gangwar.

He said , ”The involvement of NGOs is particularly notable, as they bring additional resources and volunteer support to ensure that the polling stations run efficiently and are welcoming to all voters, including the elderly and differently abled.”

Security has also been ramped up across all polling stations. The administration is coordinating with law enforcement agencies to ensure law and order throughout the day. Adequate arrangements for drinking water, shade and seating have been made at each booth to keep voters comfortable as they wait their turn to cast their ballots.

The DM, who is also the district electoral officer, said, “ The local administration has set up 582 booths in Sarojini Nagar, followed by BKT with 487, Lucknow East with 417, Lucknow West with 414, Malihabad with 405, Mohanlalganj with 399, Lucknow North with 393, and Lucknow Central with 339 booths. Notably, Lucknow Cantt has least number of 330 booths allocated for voters participating in the upcoming Lok Sabha polls.”

Compared to the last elections, the number of voters has surged by 1.49 lakh, when compared to 2022 assembly elections.

During the previous Vidhan Sabha elections, the total number of voters stood at 38,04,114, whereas presently, during the Lok Sabha elections the figure has climbed to 39,53,287, indicating a substantial increase of 1,49,173 voters in Lucknow.

This year, 14 polling stations have been established in high-rise buildings, according to Gangwar.

Municipal commissioner Inderjeet Singh said, “ The LMC has set up one model booth in every ward, the total being 110 , while the LDA has set up 14 model booths . The LMC has also set up 40 pink booths and around 110 semi model booths. Besides cold water , butter milk would also be available in most of the model booths.”

Around 17,500 government employes will be participating in the whole exercise, besides security deployment.

VC LDA Indramani Tripathi said, “ Drinking water, coolers, sheds, loudspeakers and electricity have been ensured by the administration. ”

On Saturday, divisional commissioner Roshan Jacob reached Ramabai ground and inspected the strong room built there . Here she saw arrangements of water, electricity, toilets and security . She said that security arrangements should be taken full care of and directed the officials to ensure that all the CCTV cameras remained operational 24 X7 and special attention was paid to fire safety. She directed the officials of the municipal corporation to carry out fogging, spraying of insecticides , cleaning of bushes and regular cleaning of toilets in the area.

The divisional commissioner also inspected the polling booths of Basic School, Aurangabad Zone-1 City Area, Mary Gardiners Academy and Maharaja Bijli Pasi Government College and gave necessary instructions to the concerned officials.

During the inspection of the polling stations, she checked power connections, lights and fans of appropriate capacity, toilets, drinking water, functioning of hand pumps, ramps, cleanliness, availability of network, general information and availability of sheds at the polling stations. She directed the officials to arrange chairs for the elderly people to sit at fixed intervals on the day of voting.