Daijiworld Media Network – Mangaluru (MS)

Mangaluru, Apr 25: Elections are usually slated to be held during the summer months. However, this year the rising mercury has been harsh on the citizens. Election Commission of India (ECI) officials are of the opinion that the intense heat of summer might affect the polling percentage this year too.

On Tuesday, ECI held a special video conference with its Karnataka wing on the effect of heat on the polling day.

According to IMD, the temperature is set to rise further on April 26 as the chances of rainfall seem slim. Special commissioner of EC R Selvamani said that special arrangements are being made by EC for this year’s election to beat the simmering heat.

Representational image

In total, there are 58,834 polling booths in Karnataka. Out of this 21,595 are in urban areas while 37,239 are in rural regions. EC officials said provision for  shade and medical assistance is being made at polling booths wherever there is no cover to protect against the scorching sunlight. EC officials say that as the sun goes up and temperature rises, the polling percentage is likely to reduce but is likely to pick up only towards the end of the day after 3 pm.

As per the latest IMD information, while Kalaburagi recorded a maximum temperature of 41.5 degrees celsius Raichur clocked 41.1 degress celsius and Koppala reported temperature of 40.2 degrees celsius during the day.