Home Minister Ramesh Chennithala on Friday inaugurated the rain harvesting plant of 10 lakh-litre capacity on the premises of District Jail and Borstal School, Kakkanad.
The plant, one of the largest in the state, will help resolve the water problems at the jail, especially during summer.
Ramesh Chennithala said the majority of the jails across the state face water shortage and such initiatives are the need of the hour.
He also spoke about various welfare programmes for the staff and the department.
“We will certainly look into the possibilities of providing central canteen facility of the Kerala Police to the staff of the Prison Department. The matter will be taken up during the cabinet meeting. The department will also consider allotting a portion of the profit from jail chappathi and curry sale for welfare programmes of the jail,” he said.
He added that the government would not tolerate usage of mobile phone or criminal activities in the jail.
“Strict order has been given to each jail in the state to monitor each prisoner and prevent anti-social activities in jails,” he said.
T P Zen Kumar, ADGP, Prison Department, said various steps have been taken for resolving the water crisis in the jails.
“For district jails, big rain harvesting plants will be helpful. But for Central jails, 10 lakh-litre water will last only for four to five days. So we have been creating water holes to increase the ground water level as we may resort to wells and ponds,” he said.
The new rain harvesting plant was installed with a fund of `27.9 lakh allotted for the development of Borstal School. During the summer, water is provided by tanker lorries now.