Tractors replace donkeys to carry polling materials to hill villages

COIMBATORE: The Election Commission officials replaced donkeys with tractors for delivering polling materials in two hill villages in Dharmapuri and one in Erode for the Lok Sabha polls, making improvements to poll arrangements at areas difficult to access.

Kottur Hills and Erimalai in Dharmapuri on Thursday for the first time received EVM, VVPAT units and other polling materials on a tractor. Both the tribal hamlets have a total of 637 voters.

“As these villages remained inaccessible by vehicles earlier, the polling materials were ferried on donkeys trekking through five kilometres on the undulated terrain in the hills in the past. The villagers have been demanding better road connectivity. Under pressure from villagers, the authorities laid a mud road to these villages,” said an official. The infra boost has helped to move election materials on a tractor for this Lok Sabha polls.

EC officials also shifted to tractors in Kathirimalai village in Bargur panchayat, Erode for moving election materials. This village, with 137-odd voters, is located inside the reserve forest area of Chennampatti Forest Range in the Erode Forest Range. A road was laid a year ago to the village to facilitate vehicle movement.

However, in the Bodhamalai hills near Rasipuram in Namakkal Lok Sabha constituency, still inaccessible by modern means of transportation, polling materials were carried as head-load by trekking seven km. The staff took an arduous journey through rough terrain to Melur, Keelur and Kedamalai hamlets at Bodhamalai, located seven kilometres above sea level. Works are underway to lay a road at a cost estimate of Rs 140 crore to these villages, which have a total of 1,500-odd voters.