Thiruvananthapuram; Thiruvananthapuram will use the electronic voting machines for an opinion poll on Saturday, the first city in the country to do so. The poll to shortlist three projects for area-based development and three issues for pan-city development will take place at 100 wards in two shifts. The polling at wards 1 to 50 will be from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m., while that at wards 51 to 100 will be from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. Corporation officials said that there will be at least 20 vehicles to ensure that the transfer of machines from the morning booths to the afternoon booths won’t cause any delay.
There are seven options to choose for area-based development.
1) Akkulam, Veli, Kochu-veli (wards 89,91, 95, 96, 97 and 99)
2) Kazhakkoottam area (wards 1, 4, 97, 98, 100)
3) Central business district area – Chalai, Thampanoor, East Fort (wards 27, 28, 29, 43, 71, 80, 81)
4) Bypass-heritage canal corridor (wards 1, 63, 64, 65, 67, 68, 74, 75, 76, 77, 78, 79, 84, 86, 88, 91, 92, 97, 98, 99, 100)
5) Vizhinjam area (wards 59, 60, 61, 62)
6)Medical College-General Hospital (wards 16, 17, 82, 93, 94)
7) Outer area development corridor (wards 2, 3, 10, 11, 13, 33, 34, 35, 37, 58)
Votes can also be sent via sms or WhatsApp in the following format: ST<space>ABD<area code> to 82814-98001. The following venues have been changed. Ward 28, Government Model LPS, (not Government Model HS); 52, SCT Engineering College; 69, Samadarshini Library; 77, Government UPS, Beemapally; 82, Government HS, Vanchiy-oor; 87, Rajiv Gandhi Cultural Centre; 90, St Joseph’s Library; 94, Kannammoola ward committee office; 96, Pulayan-arkotta ward committee office; 100, excise office close to Kazhakkoottam railway station.
Online votes can be registered at www.tvmcity.in or https//www.facebook.com/smarttrivandrum. Votes can also be sent via ‘Smart Trivandrum’ mobile app. Ballot boxes were placed in various government offices, schools and colleges on Friday. They include Government Girls’ HSS, Cotton Hill, Government Model HSS, St Joseph’s High School and St Mary’s HSS, Pattom. These are manual votes, which will be consolidated by the consultant IDeCK with the Centre for Management Development.
