Prison shifting to Mudipu gathers urgency

Prison shifting to Mudipu gathers urgency

Mangalore Today News Network

Mangaluru, July 7, 2019: The Public Works Department (PWD) has floated tenders for a new high security prison in Mudipu village in Bantwal taluk, on the out skirts of the city.

“The new central jail – spread over 64 acres of land in Mudipu village – will be built at a total cost of Rs 110 crore,” Additional Director General of Police (Prisons) N S Megharikh informed.

“The prison complex – with male, female prisons, hospital, workshop, administrative office, helipad, video conferencing facility and staff quarters – will accommodate 1,000 inmates,” he stated. This need delayed for over a decade thus gains urgency.

Former DGP (Prisons) H N Satyanarayana Rao had announced the project  during his visit to the district jail in 2017, that the state’s 10th central jail will be constructed on the outskirts city. Work on the new central jail began after being announced in the 2018-19 budget. A compound wall was built on the site for the jail at a total cost of Rs 2 crore by the PWD.

“The proposal on constructing non-residential buildings at the central jail in Mudipu received the government’s in-principal approval in September 2018 and administrative approval in May this year,” informed Megharikh, who had inspected the site recently.

Finance provision :  Government has already released Rs 30 crore to PWD to initiate works. The present district jail in Kodialbail is packed to capacity. “Although the capacity of the jail is 210 inmates, there are 400 inmates in the jail,” the DGP said, adding, “Another 600 inmates in different jails.”

He also said that he has been mounting pressure on PWD to complete the new central prison project within a year.

There are district prisons at Bidar and Vijayapura, that are being shifted to the outskirts of the respective towns and cities.

The Shivamogga prison, with a capacity of 500 inmates, was already shifted to the outskirts. There are several upgrades now that are being implemented in a regular manner to modernise the prison systems.