3,000 inmates, 6-storeys: Upcoming prison in Mankhurd may be country’s tallest

Mumbai may soon be home to the country’s tallest prison building as plans for the proposed jail in Mankhurd, with a projected capacity of 3,000 inmates, start taking shape.

According to a report in The Indian Express, the structure will come up in the next two years.

It will have high-security cells for “VIP inmates” – including the likes of absconding liquor baron Vijay Mallya, who had opposed extradition to India citing poor condition of prisons in the city.

The new prison is expected to take the load off the near-century-old and overcrowded Arthur Road Jail. The prison has a capacity of 1,000 inmates, but houses over 3,000 at present, including several high-profile ones.

“Since we are building a new prison, we want to ensure that it can accommodate a much higher number of inmates,” a senior official from the prisons department told the daily.

“We plan to build a facility that can house 3,000 inmates. To house as many people, we are hoping to construct a six-storey structure. It could be one of the tallest prisons in the country,” he added.

The department is currently in the process of getting the building plans drawn up by an architect. The plans will then be sent to the state government for approval.

Incidentally, the department had constructed Taloja Central Jail in 2008 to solve the overcrowding problem at Arthur Road Jail.

However, despite its holding capacity of around 2,500 inmates, the prison has not helped remedy the situation as it is located too far from the Mumbai sessions court and due to the shortage of prison guards to accompany inmates to court.

As a result, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis approved the plan to construct a modern prison in Mankhurd in 2016. The proposed facility will come up five acres of land adjacent to the Mankhurd station between Mankhurd and Vashi.