Chennai, April 14 (IANS). A new initiative has been launched in Chennai to make the upcoming elections easy and systematic. This time, polling stations will be arranged on the basis of color (color-coding) in all the 16 assembly seats of the city, so that voters do not face any problem in reaching their booth.
This initiative is being implemented especially for those large polling stations where multiple booths are set up in the same premises. District Election Officer J. Giving information about this scheme, Kumar Gurubaran said that this color-coding system will be implemented in polling centers where there are more than 10 booths. He said that signboards and pathways made in different colors would help voters reach their designated booths directly, thereby reducing confusion and delays.
In a big city like Chennai, 4,085 polling booths have been set up at a total of 1,197 polling stations. Many of these centers are in schools and public institutions, where having a large number of booths at one place leads to crowding and confusion. With this new system, efforts are being made to overcome this problem to a great extent.
For example, at Nammalvarpet Chennai High School in Purasavakkam area, pathways have been marked with different colors like sky blue, pink and pistachio green so that voters can easily reach their booths. Along with these colorful paths, signboards have also been installed at various places.
Officials say that this arrangement is very important especially at those centers where voters come in large numbers. According to an official, there are 16 booths in one school itself, where around 9,000 voters cast their votes. In such a situation, it can be difficult to handle the crowd without proper guidance.
Similarly, in a private school in Perambur area, two separate entry gates and one exit gate have been made so that the movement of voters remains smooth. Also, maps have also been placed at prominent places, so that people can find their booth quickly.
The Election Department has also made special arrangements for the disabled voters, so that they do not face any kind of problem. Apart from this, secure racks for keeping mobile phones will also be provided at some centres.
Officials say that if this experiment is successful, then in future this system can be implemented in all the centers having more than 5 booths.
–IANS
VKU/AS