Stringent traffic restrictions will be in force in the city from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Wednesday on account of the counting of votes polled during the local body elections.
Vehicles will be streamlined and prohibited prohibited along the MC Road stretch from near the Mar Ivanios College campus premises and along Kesavadasapuram, Paruthippara, Nalanchira, Kurissadi and Mannanthala.
Parking will not be permitted on either side of the MC Road stretch from Kesavadasapuram to Kurissadi junction, near the Mar Ivanios College campus, along the Mannanthala-Mukkola-Peroorkada road and Kesavadasapuram-Ulloor road. Candidates and booth agents will be allowed to park their vehicles at the Mar Ivanios College ground, while polling officials will be required to park their vehicles on the Sarvodaya School ground.
Other motorists will be permitted to park their vehicles on the western side of the stretch from Step junction in Nalanchira to Mannanthala.
Diversions
Vehicles entering the city through the MC Road will have divert at Mannanthala and proceed through Mukkola, Peroorkada, Ambalamukku, Kowdiar and Vellayambalam. Anticipating traffic snarls along the Kesavadasapuram-Kurissadi road, motorists headed towards Venjaramoodu will be diverted towards Kesavadasapuram, Ulloor, Sreekaryam, Chembazhanthy and Pothencode. The other arterial roads of the city will also come under surveillance during the period.
Security
City Police Commissioner and Inspector General Balram Kumar Upadhyay has said that around 750 police personnel will be deployed as part of the security arrangements on the vote-counting day.
Coordinated by Deputy Commissioner of Police (Law and Order, Traffic) Divya V. Gopinath, the arrangements will involve five Assistant Commissioners, seven Inspectors and 14 Sub-Inspectors. As many as 156 women police officers will also be deployed to various parts.
Separate striking forces will be deployed in each sub-divisions and politically sensitive locations. Picket posts and patrolling will also be set up in each area that is vulnerable to violent incidents.
Only polling officials and those involved in essential services, candidates and counting agents who have been issued special passes for vote counting will be permitted entry to the counting centres.
