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Villagers travel by boat to cast vote

Staff Reporter

No action on plea for a polling booth

Photo: Lingaraj Panda

VOTING BLUES: Voters of Garrampeta village in Ganjam district waiting for a boat ride to cast their vote .

BERHAMPUR: Voters of Garampeta village in Ganjam district have to take the sea-route on their fishing boats to exercise their franchise for panchayat polls on Monday.

The aged, whose health did not permit them to take the boat ride, had to traverse over 40 km to vote. It spoke of the interest of these rural voters towards democratic process. But it also proved that the authorities could not provide these voters easy access to their voting booth despite continuous demands since the month of January.

J. Appa Rao, a voter from this village, said they decided not to let their voting right go waste. "But if we do not get our polling booth near our village during next general election then we would take up a major agitation," he said.

Displaced by college

This marine fishermen's village of families displaced by the Army Air Defence College (ADC), Golabandha, came into existence in 1994. These inhabitants had resettled at this new place getting displaced from their old village near Golabandha. Their polling booth still remains at the Nua-Golabandha village at distance of some 5 km if one travels by the sea coast.

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