NAGERCOIL: For hundreds of Kani tribe residents living deep inside the Western Ghats in Kanniyakumari district, casting a vote is not a short walk to a polling booth, but a journey across water.
In hill villages such as Thachamalai, Pathukaani, Vattapparai and Keeriparai, voters must travel by boat across the Pechiparai dam to reach the polling station set up at the Government Tribal Residential Higher Secondary School.
With no road access and the reservoir remaining full year-round, boats are the only link between their homes and the polling booth. Around 300 voters from these remote habitations depend on this arrangement every election.
The polling station serves nearly 6,500 voters from 48 hill villages inhabited by Kani tribe communities across the forest and hill regions.
For the Assembly election scheduled on April 23, boats will operate from morning till evening to ferry voters, ensuring they can exercise their franchise despite geographical barriers.
Most of these villages fall under the Padmanabhapuram Assembly constituency and are part of the Thiruvattar taluk.