DARJEELING,: Polling personnel left for remote polling booths, listed as P-2 polling booths, in Darjeeling’s Singalila National Park area to conduct polling for the Darjeeling Lok Sabha elections on April 26 on Wednesday from the Dispersion Centre and Receipt Centre (DCRC) set up at Darjeeling Government College (DGC).
This time around they are facing a tough journey. They are set to cover long distances on foot since Forest department has banned ponies in Singalila National Park where the three P-2 booths are located. The Forest department had imposed this ban some months back citing the probability of these animals spreading diseases to other animals in the sanctuary.
Darjeeling sub divisional officer and Returning Officer Richard Lepcha said, “The polling personnel for the three polling stations left today from the distribution centre. They will today go to Srikhola where they will halt for the night. They will be covering a total distance of 106 km which will take more than four hours. An intermediate strong room has been set up in Srikhola where the EVMs will be stored and be manned by security forces as per ECI norms.”
The three P-2 polling stations which all fall under Darjeeling Assembly constituency are Daragaon Junior High School where there are 1,034 voters, Rammam Forest Primary School where there are 209 voters and Samanden Forest Primary School where there are 213 voters. All these three booths fall in Darjeeling-Pulbazar block.
“Tomorrow morning from Srikhola one group will move to Daragoan which is about 17 km from there. They will be using four-wheeler vehicles to travel some distance while the rest of the 6 km they must travel by foot. Another group will move to Rammam which is 19 km from there in which about ½ km they have to travel by foot. The third booth which is in Samanden is 26 km from there in which they have to travel 7 km by foot,” said Lepcha.
The polling teams will be provided porters, accommodation and food.
“We are also providing one sector officer and three assistant sector officers. Due to the terrain we are providing this in the location itself so there is no delay in the polling process. We are also sending one reserve EVM each to the polling party with the main polling machine in case an emergency arises,” said Lepcha.
“They will be returning to Srikhola on election day after polling ends. They will stay there overnight with the EVMs kept in the intermediate strong room with security forces manning it. They will return the next day to the DCRC at Darjeeling making them the last to arrive here,” he added.
Ajay Gupta, who got his duty at Daragoan, said, “It is my first time that I am going to the place so apart from doing my duty I will also be able to visit a new place. I just want the elections to go smoothly.”