NEW DELHI: Shifting of inmates from overcrowded Tihar prison complex commenced today with 75 prisoners being moved to newly-constructed Mandoli jail. A total of 200 prisoners will be shifted from Tihar to newly-constructed jail number 14 of Mandoli complex and the process will be completed in next 2-3 days, a senior Tihar official said.
He said the process of shifting begun today with shifting of 75 inmates. The Mandoli prison was proposed 35 years ago to ease the overcrowding at Tihar prison complex and Rohini district jail. As per figures till December 31, 2015, Tihar and Rohini jails together accommodate 14,183 prisoners against their combine established capacity of 6,250. The Mandoli prison complex has six jails with capacity to accommodate 3,777 inmates and is spread over 78.62 acres in north east Delhi.
The entire exercise of shifting will be completed in phased manner keeping in various other aspects in view, like availability of vehicles and security personnel. "We will shift prisoners from Tihar to Mandoli in a phased manner after getting construction clearance certificates for the newly-constructed jail structures," said the officer. The security of the Mandoli prison will be handled by nearly 1200 para military personnel drawn from ITBP and CRPF, he said.
The Mandoli jails will get first-time offenders, long term under-trials, adolescents and women prisoners. In the initial stages, those with good conduct records are being shifted there from Tihar, he added.