Prisons dept plans 10,000 capacity jail in Mankhurd

Pune: The state department of prisons has told the public works department (PWD) to prepare a plan for a 25-storied prison with capacity to accommodate 10,000 inmates, on a five-acre plot at Mankhurd in Mumbai.

“We are planning to create this facility on the lines of the Miami mega prison in Florida, US,” additional director general of prisons Sunil Ramanand told TOI on Friday, adding, “The new complex would go a long way in decongesting the Arthur road jail.”

A formal proposal regarding the multi-storied prison will be submitted to the state government after the plan is readied by the PWD department, said Ramanand.

He explained, “State prisons traditionally have one- or two-storied structures spread horizontally. There is no prison spread vertically. The government had allotted a five-acre plot at Mankhurd a few years ago. We decided to initiate a proposal to construct a 25-storied jail facing skywards on the lines of the Miami mega prison.”

The structure will include office and residential quarters for jail staff with separate entry and exit, among other facilities.

“This is a first-of-its-kind proposal aiming to house undertrial prisoners arrested in Mumbai. The PWD is working on the plan and estimates required to construct the facility. We will follow up with the government to sanction the project at the earliest.”

The Arthur road jail, with a capacity for 804 prisoners, now houses around 1,814 inmates. Of 60 prisons in Maharashtra, the government has constructed six new jails at Taloja, Sindhudurg, Jalna, Nandurbar, Washim and Gadchiroli since 2015.