Difficult terrain force officials to reduce polling time on tri-State borders in Polavaram district

The challenges in accessing polling stations have forced the officials to reduce polling time by two hours at the 44 polling stations along the borders of Andhra Pradesh with Odisha, Chhattisgarh and Telangana, for the Mandal Parishad Territorial Constituencies (MPTC) and Zilla Parishad Territorial Constituencies (ZPTC) elections in Polavaram district.

Continuous rainfall and poor accessibility to the designated polling stations have posed challenges to the authorities in conducting the elections. This is the first local body election in Polavaram district after Andhra Pradesh was declared a ‘Naxal-free’ State in March 2026. The election will be held for 101 MPTCs and 12 ZPTCs across the 368 stations, which are being monitored under CCTV camera surveillance.

“At least 2,500 personnel have been deployed to conduct the polling, while the police department has deployed 1,100 personnel. However, polling time has been reduced by two hours in the 44 polling stations due to various challenges, including accessibility and a lack of transportation facilities”, said Polavaram District Collector K. Dinesh Kumar. Polling at these 44 station will commence from 7 a.m. and will end at 3 p.m. 

On Wednesday, officials shifted the location of the polling material distribution centres due to rains across the district. 

Polling staff brave the rain to arrive at polling stations in Polavaram district on Wednesday.
| Photo Credit:
BY ARRANGEMENT

In East Godavari district, polling personnel were stranded at a distribution centre after the Agriculture Market Committee office was inundated in Gopalapuram. The officials were rescued, and the distribution centre was shifted to a nearby location. However, there were no further changes to the polling scheduled in the East Godavari district.

In Kakinada, 264 hyper-sensitive polling stations have been identified of the 1,317 polling stations.  More than 11.68 lakh voters will cast their vote in the election to the 401 MPTCs and 20 ZPTCs.

In West Godavari district, 7,500 personnel have been deployed to conduct polling for 340 MPTC and 20 ZPTCs despite continuous rainfall and ongoing relief operations following Cyclone Arnab.