Rajasthan assembly elections 2018 Poll info shouted from hilltop of this hamlet

  • | Friday | 7th December, 2018

Half the voters from Shergaon arrive in Uttraj a night before the polling day and return to their village the next day after casting their vote. Teams trek through 4km of hilly terrain to reach it and its 325-strong electorate has many from the nearby Shergaon village, who walk for 9 km to exercise their franchise.“Special instructions have been issued for this polling booth. The climbing down takes half an hour but coming back to Guru Shikhar takes around two hours.Equally challenging is the task of the voters. Following this, the remaining half begin their journey for the booth.After the completion of polling, the 11-member polling team armed with torches, leaves the village at 5pm. The view from the village is beautiful but the life there is difficult.

JAIPUR: This polling booth in the state literally shouts out every vote cast from atop hills.Tucked away in a corner of the state at a height of 4,921 feet, a primary school at the small village of Uttraj in Sirohi district near Mount Abu, is the highest polling booth in the state. Teams trek through 4km of hilly terrain to reach it and its 325-strong electorate has many from the nearby Shergaon village, who walk for 9 km to exercise their franchise.“Special instructions have been issued for this polling booth. Only young and energetic officers are posted at this booth. The area is out of mobile network coverage, so, one of our workers climbs a hill top to give instructions for the start of the mock polling or information on percentage of voter turnout,” says returning officer, Ravindra Goswami.With no roads, medical or mobile phone facility, the polling officers climb down from Guru Shikhar range, the highest peak of Rajasthan , to reach here one day before elections. The climbing down takes half an hour but coming back to Guru Shikhar takes around two hours.Equally challenging is the task of the voters. Half the voters from Shergaon arrive in Uttraj a night before the polling day and return to their village the next day after casting their vote. Following this, the remaining half begin their journey for the booth.After the completion of polling, the 11-member polling team armed with torches, leaves the village at 5pm. The area plunges into darkness soon and the journey back is done in the dark. But that is not the sole problem. The area around the village is inhabited by wild animals like black bears and leopards, and sticks have to therefore be kept handy.“We have appointed workers from local bodies to carry the EVMs. The view from the village is beautiful but the life there is difficult. Last year, we trained a person in medicine to treat patients in emergency and the next day, the villagers carry such patients in a cot to the nearby hospital uphill,” says Goswami.

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