E-Paper
Palghar to get central prison on 25-acre plot
In a bid to decongest the Thane and Taloja central jails in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR), Palghar district collector Dr Manik Gursal has sanctioned a 25-acre land to house a central jail in Palghar district
In a bid to decongest the Thane and Taloja central jails in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR), Palghar district collector Dr Manik Gursal has sanctioned a 25-acre land to house a central jail in Palghar district.
“As per a June 2 order by the collector, the jail is likely to come up on a government-owned land at Umroli village in Palghar district. Of the total 92.03 hectares (roughly 230 acres) of land, 10 hectares (25 acres) have been allotted for the jail,” said Palghar district information officer Rahul Bhalerao.
The authorities propose to set up the main jail and the residential quarters for staffers first. The plot will also house a facility for inmates’ vocational training in bakery, carpentry, shoe making and other workshops. The products made at the facility will be sold to public and also displayed at government exhibitions.
“Earlier around a 50-acre plot was identified at Morekhuran in Palghar for the jail. But project on the land was not feasible and thus the Umroli plot was given nod as the location has no legal encumbrances. Also, the plot is only 6km from the collectorate, rural hospital and sessions court,” said Bhalerao.
The additional general of prisons, Maharashtra, has also given nod to the new jail at Umroli.
Palghar district was formed in August 2014, but has no central prison since the past seven years.
The 115 people arrested in last year’s lynching are rotationally shifted to Thane and Taloja jails. However, owing to overcrowding in these jails, some of the accused were also kept in Kasa, Dahanu, Wada and Palghar police lockups. Their relatives also have to travel long to Thane and Navi Mumbai to meet them.
“There are 29 police stations within Palghar and the Mira Bhayander Vasai Virar (MBVV) Commissionerate. Once the prison is ready, people arrested from these areas will be lodged in the new jail,” said Bhalerao.
