Godavari region gears up for 14 ULBs amid cyclone recovery

As many as 13 Municipalities and one Nagar Panchayat in Godavari region to go for local body polls on Sunday, while the elections won’t be held in Kakinada and Rajamahendravaram Municipal Corporations due to an ongoing legal battle over the merger of the Gram Panchayats.

On the eve of the elections, restoration works are still in progress after trees were uprooted and electricity wires were snapped after Cyclone Arnab made landfall between Narsapuram and Amalapuram on October 28. Both, Narsapuram and Amalapuram municipalities are going to polls with full preparedness on the ground and restoration of electricity facility without any inadequacy for infrastructure facilities. 

Surveillance

The police department on Saturday intensified security in as many as 14 urban local bodies to prevent any untoward incidents during the elections.

“We have prepared the ground for the election to the urban local bodies in the Godavari region and deployment of our personnel has been completed. The security arrangements have been made, apart from the deployment of drones and other surveillance tools as recommended by the State Election Commission for the safe conduct of the polling,” Eluru Ranger Inspector General of Police G.V.G. Ashok Kumar told The Hindu.

However, there will be no deployment of paramilitary forces for the election in the region.

The election will be held for the six municipalities in Kakinada district – Tuni, Peddapuram, Samarlakota, Yeleswaram, Gollaprolu and Pithapuram – represented by Deputy Chief Minister K. Pawan Kalyan. In East Godavari, three municipalities will go to the poll – Kovvuru, Mandapeta and Nidadavolu – which are represented by Tourism Minister Kandula Durgesh. In West Godavari district, the election will be held to Narsapuram municipality and Aakiveedu Nagar Panchayat.

Restoring parity

Dr. B.R. Ambedkar Konaseema District Collector R. Mahesh Kumar has claimed that there would be no hurdle to conduct the polling in Amalapuram municipality as the electricity facility has been fully restored. Hit by Cyclone Arnab, at least 150 electrical poles collapsed in Amalapuram town and new polices have been installed. In Narsapuram municipality in West Godavari district, there will be no challenges to conduct the poll despite it suffered devastation during the cyclone.

In Dr. B.R. Ambedkar Konaseema district, all is set for the polling in Amalapuram, Mummudivaram and Ramachandrapuram municipalities. In Konaseema, women with a 51.39% share of the total 90,035 votes would dictate the result.

Providing the insights about the newly launched mobile app, Kakinada Superintendent of Police H. Bindhu Madhav said, “The app, ‘TRACE’ (Tracking Routes, Alerting & Coordinating Emergencies), will track the movements of the 67 police vehicles connected to control room. It will also enable the police personnel on duty to send SoS in the event of any disturbance on the spot and share photos.”

The 67 vehicles, meant to cover 49 routes, 12 striking forces and 6 special striking forces, and 143 polling locations are digitally mapped and connected to monitor the election, he added.