Silchar, Oct 3: Rain and waterlogging marked polling day in Silchar on Saturday as voters turned out for the first election to the newly constituted Silchar Municipal Corporation. 30 pm, according to the latest State Election Commission update.

The final turnout figure is yet to be released. Cachar SSP Partha Protim Das said the polling process remained largely peaceful.

“Election for the Silchar Municipal Corporation went peacefully, and most of the voting is complete; except for a few final packings, it is still going on,” SSP Das told The Assam Tribune. He, however, acknowledged that minor clashes had taken place outside a polling station and said the situation was under control.

“No arrests had been made,” he added. 73 lakh eligible voters.

Voting was conducted through ballot papers. Candidates in Wards 9 and 20 had already been elected unopposed.

30 am. 30 pm.

For the majority of voters, the day’s most visible civic concern was not a party or candidate but the condition of the city itself. The rain and waterlogging emerged as a major concern among residents, with some saying the condition of roads and drains had made even routine movement difficult.

In Ward 38, residents of Link Road had to negotiate accumulated rainwater while making their way to polling stations. “We have to struggle even to exercise our democratic rights,” a young voter said.

“We hear about development taking place everywhere. We now want to see Silchar develop in the same way,” an elderly resident of Ambikapatty said after voting.

Former Silchar Municipal Board chairman Niharendra Narayan Tagore, after casting his vote, said the expanded jurisdiction of the corporation would make the extension of civic infrastructure a major challenge. “Some of the areas that were already under the earlier municipal setup, have a certain level of development.

In the newly added areas, development will have to begin afresh,” Tagore said. Silchar MLA Dr Rajdeep Roy described the election as an important stage in the city’s transition from a municipal board to a municipal corporation.

Calling for more accessible municipal services, he said, “People should not have to visit municipal offices repeatedly for basic services. We need a system where services are delivered in a simple, transparent and time-bound manner.”