MADURAI: After a brief struggle, the land for constructing the new Madurai Central Prison complex has been finalised and its bhoomi puja was conducted recently. Once constructed, it will become the second prison in Tamil Nadu to be built by the state government through the Tamil Nadu Police Housing Corporation Limited since independence (though additional accommodations have been constructed earlier in prisons).
It may be noted that the British government had constructed almost all the central prisons in the state including the Madurai Central Prison (excluding the Puzhal prision which was constructed by the police housing corporation). The Madurai prison has a jurisdiction of six districts — Madurai, Ramanathapuram, Sivaganga, Dindigul, Theni and Virudhunagar — and has a special prison for women where remand, under-trial prisoners and convicts are lodged.
The Madurai prison was one among the three prisons constructed in 1865 (others are Cuddalore and Tiruchy central prisons), after the Salem Central Prison was built in 1862. In recent years, the existing prison in Madurai city faced multiple issues, including those relating to inmate accommodations, shifting of inmates for court proceedings through traffic-congested areas, the prison's location in the heart of the city, among others.
Moreover, the Madurai prison has to accommodate 1,500 inmates in 31 acres, while the Coimbatore prison accommodates 2,200 inmates in 167 acres. Meanwhile, 720 inmates are accommodated in Cuddalore prison, 1,400 inmates in Salem (130 acres), 2,500 inmates in Tiruchy (289 acres) and 2,100 inmates in Vellore (53 acres). Though the inmate cells were constructed as per norms, the overall space for the prison remains pertinent as Madurai prison is one of the prisons in the state with a lot of industrial activities.
When the issue of accommodation, locality of the prison, traffic congestion and others arose, the state government decided to shift the location of the prison, including the women's prison and quarters. However when a land was identified near Ediyapatti, the residents objected to the plan and claimed it would adversely affect the biodiversity of the locality. Following this, another land was identified in Thethur near Vadipatti, but that too was not shortlisted. Finally, an 89-acre poramboke land was identified in Sembur near Melur.
Recently, the state government had also told the Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court, in a PIL seeking to shift the prison, that they would expedite the process.
Speaking to TNIE, a senior prison official said the police housing corporation will start its work soon after the administrative works are done. The new prison complex in Sembur will consist of a central prison, prison for women, quarters and other facilities, and will accommodate around 3,000 inmates, which is the highest for any existing prison in the state. As the existing prison is located in the heart of the city, it takes around 25-30 minutes to reach the district court. Whereas from the proposed site to the court complex, it will take less time only. The new complex, a three-storey building, will be established by sticking to all the manuals mentioned in the prison norms, the official added.