ULB polls begin at D.K, Udupi
Mangaluru: Elections began for Ullal and Puttur City Municipal Corporations, Bantwal Town Municipal Corporation and Udupi distrcit’s four local bodies today. Of the 89 wards, 1,17,979 voters are required to elect 89 Representatives, with a total of 250 candidates in the arena.
Of the 31 wards in Ullal, 102 candidates are contesting, with 44,132 voters. Out of 31 wards in Puttur, 77 candidates are in the fray, with 39,745 voters. Of the 27 wards in Bantwal, 71 candidates are in the arena with 34,102 voters.
Ullal has 43 polling stations, including 18 most sensitive and 11 sensitive stations. There are 41 polling booths in Puttur, with 27 sensitive. Bantwal has 18 very sensitive and 14 sensitive of 32 booths.
A total of 145 voting machines are being used for elections to three local bodies. Also, 145 ballet units and control units are also installed.
Nota usage
Voters who do not want to vote for any of the candidates are allowed to vote for NOTA option in the voting machine.
Polling booth Details of Udupi district
For the 35 wards of the Udupi Urban Local Bodies, 98 polling stations have been setup. Of 97,561 voters, there are 47,538 men, 50,022 women and one other.
There are 23,302 voters, including 11,292 men and 12,010 women in 23 Kundapura town Municipality.
In 23 wards of Karkala Municipality, there are 23 polling stations. It has 9,879 men and 10,725 women, with a total of 20,604 voters.
There are 16 polling stations for 16 wards of the Saligrama Town Panchayat, with 6,213 men and 6,748 women, with a total of 12,961 voters.
General Holiday:
In a bid to fecilitate voter to exercise their franchise, general holiday for all the state government offices, schools, colleges (including aided educational institutions) of the respective constituencies have been decleared holiday on August 31.
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'Explosion-like' sounds in Kerala village due to cracking of rocks, not dangerous: KSDMA
Thiruvananthapuram, Oct 31: The "explosion-like" sounds, accompanied by tremors, that were heard in the Anakkallu area of Malappuram district a day ago, were apparently caused due to friction and cracking of rocks close to the surface of the earth, the Kerala State Disaster Management Authority (KSDMA) said on Thursday.
According to a joint statement issued by the KSDMA and the District Disaster Management Authority in Malappuram, District Geologist, Ground Water Department Geologist and District Hazard Analyst conducted a site inspection where the noise and vibrations occurred on October 17, 18 and 29.
Based on the inspection, the KSDMA concluded the noise and vibrations were "caused by the friction and cracking of rocks close to the surface of the earth" -- a phenomena which has been reported in many parts of Kerala before -- and were generally not dangerous.
This phenomenon is often caused by subtle natural changes in the earth. They are also caused by the displacement of rocks due to groundwater utilisation and when air contained in small cavities inside the earth escapes through tube wells, KSDMA said in the statement.
It said a decision has been taken to subject the site to a geophysical survey to understand the structure of the area more accurately and for that the Kozhikode NIT has been contacted by the KSDMA.
Regarding the damage suffered by some buildings due to the vibrations, it said that the same was due to their "age and structural weakness".
The authority said that depending on the extent and pattern of the cracks suffered by the buildings, the damage can be repaired by an engineer for continued use.
Nearly 300 people were moved to safety after the "explosion-like" sounds accompanied by tremors were heard by them in Anakkallu area in Malappuram district on Tuesday night.
The first sound was reportedly heard at 9.15 pm on Tuesday, followed by two more at 10.15 pm and 10.45 pm along with mild tremors, and reportedly within a 2-km radius, causing panic among the local residents.
Local residents had said they heard alarming sounds similar to those heard from granite quarries at their place repeatedly accompanied by continuing tremors.
Cracks were also found to have developed in some houses in the area, they had said.
