Nearly 100 polling booths in Ernakulam will showcase the best of environmental practices this election.
Of the 3,800 polling booths in the district, around 100 will be ‘green booths’ that will implement the green protocol prescribed by the State Election Commission. The local body elections held in December last year had demonstrated the good practices in environment protection and waste management.
“The booths will be decorated with eco-friendly materials like tender leaves of coconut tree. Green will be the overall theme of the booths,” said officials of the Haritha Keralam Mission (HKM) and Suchitwa Mission. Entrances to polling booths will have welcome messages displayed in coconut palm fronds. Flower stalks of coconut tree and plants will be set up at various points of the green booths.
The Election Commission had recommended green booths to create environmental awareness among voters and polling officials. The idea is to avoid all materials and products that are non-recyclable and harmful to the environment.
HKM district coordinator Sujith Karun said the green booths would display messages urging voters to support environment-friendly practices.
Accordingly, water will be kept in earthen pots. Use of plastic bottles and carry bags will not be permitted. Officials have requested voters and polling agents not to bring plastic carry bags or other non-recyclable materials to the booths. HKM and Suchitwa Mission have already set up model booths displaying green practices in the district.
They will sensitise voters to the need to observe the pandemic protocol on polling day. The need to ensure physical distancing and the importance of ‘breaking the chain’ will be highlighted as messages in the model booths.
The district has already developed a trained pool of green volunteers capable of converting an ordinary booth into a green booth.
