NEW DELHI : Amid heatwave conditions, more than half of the voters stepped out of their homes on Saturday to exercise the universal franchise.
As the maximum temperature was 43.4 degrees Celsius, three points above normal, many were seen holding umbrellas or water bottles or keeping their heads covered.
Most of the polling booths were adequately prepared for the challenge, with cold drinking water, shaded areas, desert coolers, and ORS. However, long queues remained unresolved in several booths. At the Mayur Vihar Phase II polling station in Pocket C, many voters stated that they had to wait for over an hour to cast vote.
At some booths, people complained that desert coolers were fewer and that they were installed for staff.
Several elderly complained of a lack of chairs. “ I am 75 years old and can’t stand for a long time. Since the queue was long, I was searching for a chair but failed to find one. Later, a volunteer provided one,” Vijay Kumar, a voter at a Sangam Vihar booth, said.
After casting her vote, a 70-year-old woman fainted at a polling booth in the West Delhi constituency. She was assisted by the volunteers and taken to the hospital.
At some polling booths, coconut water was distributed to the voters. Outside a polling booth in Alipur, which falls in Northwest Delhi constituency, Rajat Maan, who came with his wife Swati, told a news ageny, “Is garmi ko kaatne ka, bas yehi hai desi illaj (This is the only natural way to beat this scorching heat).”
Similar scenes were witnessed at other places in Delhi as the voters were seen having sips of the sugarcane juices outside the voting centres.
Narendra Shukla, a voter at a polling centre in Matiala, said there was no water inside the booth. “At least this sugarcane juice at just Rs 20 per glass has brought respite to us in this heat, where mercury is reaching 47-48 deg C,” he said.
The minimum temperature recorded on Saturday was 30.6 degrees celcius, four degrees above normal. The Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) has forecast a “heat wave” for the next four days.