The Greater Chennai Corporation is set to increase the number of web cameras installed, for surveillance of critical and vulnerable polling booths as the number of such booths are expected to increase. At least 1,089 booths are expected to get web cameras, as they have already been classified ‘critical and vulnerable’.
A series of meetings are being held this weekend with police officers in each of the 15 zones to finalise the number of critical and vulnerable polling stations by Monday. According to the tentative list, the number has increased from less than 850 in 2011 to 1,089 in 2022. During the Assembly elections held in 2021 in Chennai district, 648 polling booths were considered vulnerable and critical in the core city.
Officials will start preparations for monitoring vulnerable and critical polling booths shortly. More than 61 lakh voters in 200 wards of Chennai are expected to elect 200 councillors during the election to be held on February 19.Following Madras High Court orders, the civic body has started making arrangements for web-streaming of polling booths categorised as vulnerable and critical. Arrangements will be made for video recording all polling booths on the day of the polls.
Vulnerable polling booths will be identified based on the reports of the activities of anti-social elements in the neighbourhood and the reports of untoward incidents during previous elections.Critical booths have been finalised based on the votes polled, more than 90%, during the previous elections or the dominance of a candidate in previous elections.
