Sindhupalchowk, Nov 23

With just two days remaining for the first phase of parliamentary and provincial elections, a tight security arrangement has been put in place in the district.

Chief District Officer of Sindhupalchowk Asman Tamang told THT that security had been arranged in such way that security forces could reach incident sites within 10 minutes. According to him, Quick Response Team and Rapid Response Team will be on standby in each and every local unit. There are 3,500 security personnel including 1,040 temporary police, 1,260 Nepal Police, 700 Nepali Army and 500 Armed Police personnel deployed for elections in the district.

There are 285 polling centres and 144 polling stations in the district. Of these, 31 polling stations and 52 polling centres have been identified as sensitive. The government has mobilised 2,280 civil servants in the district. “We have sent staffers from the district headquarters and they will be reporting to their duty stations by tomorrow,” CDO Tamang said.

Voter identity cards will be distributed from respective polling stations from tomorrow. “Most of our staffers have reached their respective polling stations with ballot boxes and ballot papers,”CDO Tamang said.

According to him there is no significant presence of anti-poll activists in Sindhupalchowk. “They have district organising committee but they do not have their organisation at the village level in this district,” he said, adding, “We have conducted security committee meeting between Kavre and Kathmandu to stop the mass movement of people involved in anti-poll activities.”  According to him, the government has prohibited buying and selling of alcohol near polling centres and polling stations 72 hours before elections.

“We have arranged airlift facility to carry ballot boxes to the headquarters if there is any incident of snowfall, weather change or obstacle on the roads,” the CDO said.