The district administration of Gautam Budh Nagar has identified 279 critical polling stations in the district. District magistrate BN Singh will be holding meetings with concerned officials to review polling arrangements of these stations.

There are five assembly segments in the Gautam Buddha Nagar parliamentary constituency – Noida, Dadri, Jewar, Sikandrabad and Khurja. Sikandrabad and Khurja fall in Bulandshahr district but come under the Gautam Buddh Nagar parliamentary constituency.

In total, there are 953 polling centres and 2,408 polling stations in the GB Nagar parliamentary constituency. There will be 620 polling stations in Noida, 528 in Dadri, 388 in Jewar, 451 in Sikandrabad, 421 in Khurja. There are 116 polling centers in Noida, 174 in Dadri, 202 in Jewar, 226 in Sikandrabad and 235 in Khurja.

According to administration officials, till now they have identified a total of 279 critical polling stations in Noida, Dadri and Jewar. There are 137 critical polling stations in Noida, 107 in Dadri and 35 in Jewar. Officials said that vulnerable persons/family/households/segments/pockets have also been identified. They are two in Noida, 11 in Dadri and 13 in Jewar. Officials said there are 10 vulnerable voters in Noida, 105 in Dadri and 97 in Jewar.

“We are in the process of identifying critical polling stations and the number, 279, is tentative. From Wednesday onwards, I, along with the senior superintendent of police, additional district magistrates, superintendent of police (rural and city), sub-divisional magistrates and circle officers will be visiting polling stations to take stock of critical ones. The final number of critical polling stations will be ascertained in around five days,” BN Singh, district magistrate of Gautam Buddh Nagar, said.

According to officials, vulnerable persons, voters, households, segments and pockets were identified by doing surveys.

“Vulnerable persons or segments are one who can be influenced in many ways by local goons or political parties. We have to ensure that nobody is stopped from casting his or her vote or is influenced in any way,” Utsav Sharma, assistant environmental engineer, Uttar Pradesh pollution control board (UPPCB) and nodal officer for the election related work, said.

There are 101 sector magistrates and 20 zonal magistrates who will be getting training on Wednesday to identify critical polling stations. “Sector and zonal magistrates will be getting the training as per the guidelines of the Election Commission of India so they can identify critical polling stations, from Thursday onwards,” the district magistrate said.

First Published: Mar 13, 2019 02:50 IST