EC to use GIS mapping in poll management

Sources said the ECI will use GIS mapping for the first time in the upcoming Assembly elections in Assam,Tamil Nadu,Kerala,West Bengal and Puducherry. The panel has issued directives for them,and work on the mapping has already begun there.

In Uttar Pradesh,too,work has begun on GIS mapping of all 1.3 lakh polling stations.

“We will get the GIS maps prepared with the help of State Remote Sensing Application Centre and National Informatics Centre in UP. These maps will be used in the next Assembly elections,likely to held in 2012,” said Umesh Sinha,Chief Electoral Officer of UP.

Until now,election observers and district officials were provided ordinary maps of Lok Sabha and Assembly constituencies. GIS maps will show the

precise location of every polling booth with latitudinal and longitudinal coordinates,its distance from the headquarters,from the main road,the nearest police station and other approach roads.

These details will help officials plan and prepare for the elections. “A route map will be prepared using GIS images for every polling booth,which will enable the authorities to send security forces there via the shortest and most convenient route during emergency situations,” Sinha said. The movement of sector magistrates and traffic management during polls will also become easy,he added.

GIS maps will also help voters. “Often people are unaware of the location of their polling stations. The GIS map of every polling station with nearby landmarks will be provided on the website of the Chief Electoral Officer. That will help voters locate their polling stations,” said an official.