When the Lok Sabha election gets over in May, green activists will have a reason to smile.

The use of Electronic Voting Machines in all the 543 constituencies will save thousands of trees. This is the first time that EVMs are being used in all the constituencies.

In the 1996 election 8,000 tonnes of paper was used for printing ballot papers. In the 1998 polls it was marginally lower at 7,700 tonnes.

Such large quantities of paper required large number of trees to be cut down, an official release said.