Mumbai: 1,500 voting centres shifted to ground floor

Mumbai suburban district collector and election officer Milind Borikar speaks to the media on election preparedness

In a bid to resolve a number of complaints received from voters with regard to the inconvenience they faced during the recent Lok Sabha elections, Mumbai suburban district collector and election officer Milind Borikar said the authorities had relocated more than 1,500 voting centres from the second and first floors of different buildings to the ground floor so that they are easily accessible.

Speaking at a press conference held on Friday, Borikar said, "This time we have taken certain steps to make the voting centres accessible. During the Lok Sabha elections, about 1,973 voting centres in Mumbai's suburbs were either on the first or second floor. Of these, 1,506 centres across 26 constituencies in the suburbs have been moved to the ground floor."

Sakhi voting centre

"We have ensured that the remaining 467 centres have functional lifts. The centres have also been equipped with basic toilets and water facilities so that voters are not inconvenienced," he added. He further said that this time the suburban districts would have 7,397 voting centres as compared to 7,281 centres during the 2014 elections, and none of them have been declared sensitive post inspections in the areas. He said that at least one voting centre in each of the constituencies had been classified as 'Sakhi Voting Centre', where only women staff would be present.

Special teams at work

Speaking about the number of voters, he said there has been a rise from 71,51,986 in 2014 to 72,26,826 this time. Of the total, 39,29232 were male, 32,97,067 female and 527 transgenders.

"Special teams have been set up for monitoring the elections, which includes 130 video surveillance teams, 104 flying squads and 104 static surveillance teams. A toll-free number 1950 has been activated for citizens to get information and updates related to the polls," Borikar said.

7,397
Total no. of voting centres in the suburbs

1,506
No. of voting centres moved to ground floor

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