Mangaluru: Election duty took an adventurous turn in Dakshina Kannada when a booth-level officer (BLO) hopped onto a makeshift ropeway to cross a stream and reach a voter’s doorstep as part of the ongoing special intensive revision (SIR).Lohith K, BLO of Inekidu village in Kadaba, and a primary school teacher at Govt School, Bilinelebailu, Kadaba, waited for the rain to subside to visit a house located on the other side of a stream near Banoor. On Tuesday, Lohith, along with booth level agent Gunavardhana Kedila, decided not to wait any longer. Since a voter is unwell and is not in a position to cross the stream, the BLO decided to collect details himself.He said, “There are three houses on the other side of the stream in the area near Banoor. Residents of two houses already submitted their forms. A member of the third household was unwell, so I decided to visit him, help with the documentation and collect the form.”The only quick way across was a locally rigged ropeway stretching less than 100m over the stream. During peak monsoon, locals said, the swollen stream rises up to the gate of one of the houses. The alternative is a 2-3km detour by road, he explained.According to locals, SIR work in rural and remote pockets comes with its own set of challenges. There is no mobile network in some areas. On certain days, BLOs have to walk nearly 3km just to reach a house. Inekidu village has around 793 voters spread across more than 200 households. BLOs have so far completed more than 90% of form distribution and 30% of the digitisation work.
