Thousands of voters whose names were struck off the electoral rolls queued up on Tuesday to submit offline appeals at the Alipore Survey building and the office of South 24 Parganas’ district magistrate, with some travelling for hours and skipping a day’s wages.

Many said they feared they had little chance of voting in the upcoming Assembly elections. The appeals were meant to restore their names to voter rolls where they had been listed for years and to avoid further problems. Applicants submitted the appeals on paper.

The tribunals, which will hear the appeals, have yet to start examining petitions from ordinary voters. Notified on March 20, the tribunals have so far dealt only with two appeals under Supreme Court orders.

Md Salim, 62, a resident of Mayurbhanj in the Port area and a retired chief petty officer of the Indian Navy, has served the country for 28 years. Both his children were removed from the voter list. Salim stood in line at the Alipore Survey building to submit appeals for them.

“We are four brothers. Three of us served in the Indian Navy, and one in the Indian Army. I am hurt that after serving the forces my children have been removed from the voter list,” Salim said.

Also in the queue was his nephew, Aftab Alam, 36. Aftab’s father served in the Indian Navy for two decades. “I feel horrible at what has been done to me and lakhs of others like me. The words ‘We, the people’ have been hit hard. My right to vote has been taken away,” he said, adding he had taken a day off work to file the appeal.

Aftab said he was not even served a hearing notice but was marked “under adjudication” when the post-SIR roll was published on February 28, and later struck off the list.

Voters from Bhabanipur, Calcutta Port, Ballygunge and Tollygunge submitted appeals at the Survey building.

Nearby, the South 24-Parganas DM office had a longer queue. Voters from 10 Assembly constituencies — Jadavpur, Kasba, Behala East, Behala West, Tollygunge, Metiabruz, Bishnupur, Budge Budge, Santagachia and Maheshtala — submitted appeals there.

Suvra Maulik, 67, who has never missed voting since 1986, is likely to miss this election. Her husband, Subal, 70, queued at the DM office to submit an appeal on her behalf. “She is very upset and also angry. How can someone who has voted since 1986 be removed from the electoral roll?” he asked.

Special desks had been set up to receive offline appeals, and volunteers managed the queues.

Most voters said they doubted that those deleted after adjudication would be able to vote in the Assembly elections. Filing appeals, they said, was meant to retain their voter identity and avoid complications if their names were not restored later.

During a hearing on Monday, the Supreme Court directed that all offline applicants should be given receipts upon filing appeals. Online applicants are receiving acknowledgments.

“It goes without saying that when the appeal is filed offline, the office of DM/SDM/SDO will issue a requisite receipt or acknowledgment of such filing,” the court’s written order states.

It adds: “... appeals can be filed either online through the ECI NET platform or physically at the office of the DM/SDM/SDO, who shall ensure digitisation and uploading of the appeal on the ECI NET platform at the earliest.”