This year, all polling stations will have to be on the ground floor. While there were no polling stations on higher floors in Rajarhat New Town, there were 31 first floor stations in Bidhannagar. “We are trying to relocate them to the ground floor of the same structure, failing which, we are booking the nearest government premise. But if no such option is available, temporary structures are having to be built,” said Arnab Saha, the officer-in-charge of election for the Bidhannagar constituency and the returning officer for the Rajarhat Gopalpur constituency.

A voter being carried down the stairs from a polling booth in Purbachal during the Lok Sabha election in 2019. Such a scene will be a thing of the past now. File Picture

The booths in Gyan Mancha, on the first floor of Purbachal market, for instance, will be shifted to temporary structures that have come up at the ground level and on the playground. A booth in St Francis Xavier School too will be shifted to the Purbachal Cluster VIII community hall.