KARACHI, April 30: In Ibrahim Hyderi, a fishermen’s settlement extending to the Korangi Fish Harbour, tents were pitched on the roads, in narrow lanes, even in cattle-pens. At least one was set up in a graveyard.
People here were given ballots printed in Sindhi. But some people still had to be told which circle meant ‘yes’ and which meant ‘no’. It was around 9.30 in the morning when this reporter visited the locality, the staff had hardly settled down when voters began trickling in.
In Bhitai Colony, being administered by the Korangi Creek Cantonment Board, least activity was seen. There were no banners and no tents. Polling stations were set up in schools, including private ones. A cantonment board dispensary was also serving as polling station. Here, an aspirant voter was asked to show any document to prove his identity. “Even if you have a copy of your ID card, we will accept it,” said a woman polling officer. The man did not have an ID card photocopy too but was still trying to persuade the staff to allow him to cast his vote.
A visit to the Government Boys Secondary School in Sector B at 2.55pm showed that 44 women and 230 men had cast their votes at the separate polling stations set up there.
At a short distance, in the Government Girls School in Sector D, there were two polling booths for women and one for men. Each of the booths for women had received 11 votes by 3.10pm. The polling station for men had received 33 votes.
The polling staff here complained of absence of drinking water and fans. “The area SHO visited us in the morning and asked if we needed anything. We requested him to provide us some water and he said he would just arrange it,” said an official, adding: “Since then neither water nor the SHO could be seen.”
In Sector A, a polling station set up in the Genius Public School, the staff had plenty of both cold water and cool air. The voters’ turnout here at 5.25pm was 282 men and 38 women.
Sources at Korangi 3-1/2 said the turnout at the area polling station was very low.
At a polling station in Korangi No 2, a woman presiding officer said that no vote had been cast in her polling booth by 11am.
“I don’t know much about other people, but nobody from my home cast vote,” said a resident from Korangi-5.
On the way back to our offices, this reporter saw a restaurant, Ghareeb Nawaz Hotel, on Sunset Boulevard, at Punjab Colony, a polling station set up in a restaurant. Both rounds of tea and polling were going side by side.