Hyderabad, Feb11(TNT): Polling for municipal elections in Telangana concluded peacefully on Wednesday across seven Municipal Corporations and 116 Municipalities, with the State recording an over 73 per cent voter turnout.
Director General of Police B. Shivdhar Reddy along with Additional DGP (Law & Order) Mahesh M. Bhagwat, monitored polling through live webcasting from the Command and Control Centre at the DGP Office.
The DG closely observed polling in sensitive and hyper-sensitive areas and issued real-time instructions to field officers to ensure smooth conduct.
Addressing a press conference at the State Election Commission, Telangana office, the DGP said the webcasting system enabled real-time surveillance of polling stations statewide.
Continuous camera monitoring, combined with effective field deployment, ensured maintenance of law and order throughout the process, he said.
Elaborate security arrangements were made, covering 8,203 polling stations including 1,302 hyper sensitive, 1,926 sensitive, and 4,975 general with deployments based on vulnerability assessments, he said.
Around 3,000 additional personnel from departments including TGSP, Forest, Excise, CID and Legal Metrology were mobilized, said the DGP.
The DGP noted that 100% webcasting inside all polling stations and enhanced external surveillance at hyper-sensitive locations improved transparency and public confidence.
Police officials across Telangana took special measures to facilitate voting by the elderly and differently-abled during the municipal polls.
In Nizamabad, Commissioner of Police P. Sai Chaitanya; in Nalgonda, District Superintendent of Police Sarath Chandra Pawar; in Wanaparthy, SP Sunitha Reddy; and in Peddapalli, DCP B. Ram Reddy ensured that elderly and differently-abled voters were provided wheelchair assistance to enable them to cast their votes comfortably.
In Mulugu, personnel of the Fourth Battalion deployed on election duty provided first aid to a voter who fainted and promptly shifted him to a hospital. The personnel also assisted elderly voters in reaching polling stations and casting their votes.
Similarly, at Ralakatwa village under Jinnaram Mandal in Sangareddy, police personnel arranged auto transportation for elderly voters to help them exercise their franchise.
UNI KNR
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