Zoo, Victoria to stay shut on poll day

Kolkata: Places of tourist interest, including Victoria Memorial Hall, zoo and Birla Planetarium, will be shut on Sunday, the day KMC elections are scheduled. But Indian Museum, Science City and BITM, which also draw tourists in fair numbers, are yet to take a call. Sources said the State Election Commission had asked Victoria, zoo and planetarium to keep the places shut to avoid drawing too many people from outside the city. South 24 Parganas DM P Ulganathan, also the district electoral officer of KMC polls, discussed the closure of major tourist spots with 16 observers, nine deputy police commissioners and other officials at a meeting on Tuesday. The shutdown was suggested also to prevent traffic chaos.VMH curator Jayanta Sengupta told TOI the museum and the garden would be closed as per the Negotiable Instruments Act so that employees could cast their vote. But Indian Museum and Science City officials said a shutdown of central government establishments was not mandatory during civic elections. “We will decide on Wednesday whether to stay shut or open,” said the director of Indian Museum and National Council of Science Museums Arijit Datta Chowdhury. At the meeting, imposing of Sec 144 CrPC in the city a day before the polls was discussed. Vigil on pople’s movement will be increased and additional check points will be set up at the entry points to the city in coordination with cops in Howrah, Bidhannagar, Barrackpore, Baruipur and Diamond Harbour. The process of ferrying EVMs between the strong room and polling stations was discussed. The EVMs will be under CCTV monitoring. Police officers also discussed force deployment at the 16 EVM distribution and collection centres. The DM said two armed guards will be at single booths but at places with multiple booths, a sub-inspector will be deployed, besides an inspector.