Amid blistering heat, residents vote at 2,134 polling stations

Amritsar, June 1

Voters exercised their right to franchise at 2,134 polling booths for the Amritsar Lok Sabha seat here on Saturday amid blistering heat. The polling commenced at 7 am and lasted till 6 pm.

At some polling booths, residents complained of lack of facilities such as no drinking water and toilets while several others had state of the art facilities. Besides, ceiling fans were also missing from some polling stations.

An 83-year-old NS Gabarhia was irked at the election authorities for not making adequate arrangements at the polling booth set up inside the Canal Office. He alleged that neither ceiling fan nor potable water were available at the Canal Office for voters in the scorching heat.

The voting process stopped at polling stations in Ajnala (Rural) constituency and Amritsar Central Assembly segment as EVMs developed technical snag.

Deputy Commissioner-cum-District Election Officer Ghanshyam Thori said barring few lapses, the district administration made all out efforts to encourage people to cast their votes. Saplings were distributed among voters at green booths in each Assembly constituency. The Punjab Pollution Control Board distributed cloth bags among voters to encourage them to stop use of plastic bags.

Literature was also distributed among residents to make them aware about the harms of single-use plastic items.

Thori said wheelchairs were arranged for the people with disabilities (PwDs) at polling booths so that they did not face any problem in casting their votes. Trained volunteers were also present to help PwDs use wheelchairs at polling stations.