BHUBANESWAR: High-rise apartments or group housing societies with 800 residents or more can now have their own polling stations. A letter to this effect was issued by the Odisha Real Estate Regulatory Authority (ORERA) recently.
Acting on the basis of a communique of the chief electoral officer (CEO), Odisha, ORERA has written to the CREDAI, Odisha unit stating that the Election Commission of India (ECI) desires setting up of new polling booths in high-rise apartments or housing societies with 800 residents or more and having common facility area or community hall on the ground floor.
These societies can market such amenity as ‘separate polling booth for residents’. Sources said ORERA was asked by the office of CEO to instruct the existing and upcoming housing societies to facilitate establishment of dedicated polling stations within their premises.
Welcoming the move, RERA activist Bimalendu Pradhan said such voting facility at apartment complexes and housing societies would increase electoral participation of people residing in flats, especially in cities like Bhubaneswar where the voter turnout is significantly low.
Pradhan, however, said ORERA must ask the development authorities and civic bodies in different cities and towns to disseminate the information to ‘association of allottees’ as under RERA norms, ownership of common areas of an apartment or housing project rests with them.
“Around 120 associations of allottees have been already registered in Bhubaneswar. More such associations are in the process of being registered. They need to be communicated about the same,” he said.
Real estate experts also said the number of apartments and group housing projects with 800 or more residents is less in Odisha. The authorities should also consider setting up polling booths for apartment projects with 500 or more residents.
Pradhan said polling stations should also be set up for a group of apartments in a locality where the number of residents is below 800.