Daijiworld Media Network – Mangaluru (ANK)
Mangaluru, May 31: Deputy commissioner (DC) Mullai Muhilan announced that Lok Sabha ballot counting will take place on June 4 at NITK Surathkal.
Addressing the media on Friday, May 31, he detailed the schedule and security measures for the day. He said, “The strong room will be opened between 6 am and 7 am, with postal vote counting starting at 8 am, followed by EVM vote counting at 8:30 am. A three-phase security system will be deployed at the counting center, with a 100-meter radius around the center declared a pedestrian zone. Additionally, CCTVs will be installed, and a ban on bursting crackers will be enforced from 5 am to midnight on June 4 under Section 144.
“The voter turnout in Dakshina Kannada was 77.56%, with a total of 14,09,653 votes cast, including 8,537 postal votes. The counting process will involve 112 tables and up to 19 rounds of counting. Eight assistant election officers and 554 officials, including counting supervisors and micro observers, have been appointed,” he said.
Police commissioner Anupam Agrawal said, “As many as 13 CAR, 5 KSRP and one paramilitary companies have been deployed to ensure smooth counting process.”
On the monsoon challenges ahead, the DC said, “We are taking all kind of precautionary measures to tackle the monsoon challenges as the IMD has predicted more rain this year. As many as 47 task force teams and 16 meetings have been already conducted to prepare for the upcoming season.
“We have started decentralised disaster management under which 291 disaster management plans, and 291 incident commanders are deployed in the taluk and gram panchayat ward wise. They will look into flood and landslide prone areas and will tackle al issues in a decentralised manner.
“As many as 86 villages and 90 areas are identified as flood-prone and 73 locations as landslide prone.
“We will also take measures to install permanent markings for the drains which pose danger and those which have no retainer walls. There are no protection walls for stormwater drains in some places. We have installed temporary measures like sand bags, reflectors and barricades,” he said.