Uttarakhand elections: Despite snow, the show must go on

DEHRADUN

: Snow spells in the higher reaches of Uttarakhand over the past few days have covered 766 out of the 11,697 polling booths in a thick layer of white, making it challenging for parties to reach these areas. A majority of these booths are at an altitude of 5000 to 7000 ft and many are situated in areas recording sub-zero temperature levels.

The booth at Kanar primary school in

Pithoragarh

- which has 588 registered voters - for instance is among the toughest to reach as polling officials would have to drive 80 km and then trek another 18 km to reach there. Similarly, to reach the Dumak polling booth (200 registered voters) in Chamoli's Badrinath, polling officials would have to walk 20 km on foot.

The polling booth at Monda primary school (260 registered voters) in

Uttarkashi

is the farthest in the state - situated 256 km away from the district headquarters. To reach Monda, where the condition of roads has worsened after the 2019 flash floods, would require another arduous trek for polling teams through stretches prone to landslides.

Notably, there are over 450 booths that would require officials to walk for at least 5 km. The maximum number of snow-bound booths are in Nainital (128), followed by Uttarkashi (113) and Chamoli (107).

On Friday, 35 polling teams, comprising a few hundred state government employees, will start their journey to these snow-bound booths with mules, donkeys and mountain goats carrying the

EVM

machines and other logistics like food, clothing and sleeping bags. Interestingly, at some places, the mules would be paid a higher per-day allowance of Rs 500 as compared to presiding officers who would get Rs 350 per day.

Acknowledging the inaccessibility to a few hilly areas, the state has also set up 24 migratory booths. Suresh Gunjyal, pradhan of Gunji, the last village along the China border in Pithoragarh, said, "We've witnessed unprecedented snowfall. All of us have moved to Dharchula. We will cast our votes at migratory booths."

(Inputs from Abhyudaya Kotnala and

Prem Punetha

)