KASKI, May 13: One-third of the polling stations in Kaski district are classified as 'highly sensitive' in view of the security threat in the upcoming election.
Out of the 150 such stations, the Election Security Committee has identified 50 as highly sensitive and the remaining others as either 'sensitive' or 'normal' in terms of election security threat.
The voting stations at Pokhara Metropolitan City wards have been categorized as normal while those in the rural municipalities have been kept in the ‘highly sensitive’ and ‘sensitive’ categories.
31 polling stations in Bajura marked highly sensitive
The Election Security Committee classified the polling stations based on the road distance, geographical condition, past incidents and the present security situation, among other factors, said Deputy Superintendent Sundar Tiwari, who is also the spokesperson at the District Police Office, Kaski.
He, however, said that there is no security challenge even at the polling stations categorized as highly sensitive. "Although there is no security threat in any of the polling stations, the security has been strengthened keeping in mind the possible threats," he added.
Spokesperson Tiwari said they are closely monitoring the situation to conduct elections peacefully by identifying the parties from those boycotting the election to those taking part in the election but seeking to use force to influence election outcomes.
The security cover at the polling stations is managed in three layers. The inner layer comprises Nepal Police who will be supported by the temporary police personnel, the middle layer consists of the Armed Police Force (APF) personnel and the outer layer will be manned by the Nepali Army (NA) personnel.
There are 336 polling booths at 150 voting stations in the Kaski district. Pokhara Metropolis alone has 98 polling stations with 242 polling centers.
(RSS)