BALANGIR: A new jail campus constructed in Kantabanji town to ease pressure on Titlagarh sub-jail remains unused for the last four years. Though the campus having all facilities for the prisoners and staff was completed four years back, it is yet to be occupied due to lack of water supply.
The jail was constructed in 2010 at a cost of `2.14 crore by Bhawanipatna wing of the Odisha Police Housing Welfare Corporation. It was constructed on an area of two acres of land to house 300 inmates including 20 women prisoners.
Although four staff were recruited for Kantabanji jail, they are currently working in Titlagarh sub-jail, which is 45 kms from Kantabanji town. The Kantabanji jail was built to ease the pressure on the Titlagarh sub-jail that has currently over 200 prisoners against its capacity of 170. Kantabanji has two courts where undertrial inmates of the Titlagarh sub-jail are brought for hearing of their cases daily. Though the transport cost of the undertrials can be brought down if they are shifted to the new jail, officials concerned remain indifferent to the matter.
Superintendent of Titlagarh sub-jail Subhakanta Mishra, who is currently in-charge of the Kantabanji jail, said the new jail has no provision of water supply. “Work on laying water pipes has not been completed and we have approached the Rural Water Supply and Sanitation (RWSS) wing to look into the problem. After the water problem is sorted out, jail will be put in use,” he said.
Executive Engineer of RWSS SC Mahanta said he has sent a team of officials to prepare an estimate of the total funds required for installing water pipes in the jail. Meanwhile, Balangir Collector M Muthukumar said he is looking into the problem and the jail will be made operational very soon.