The Capital is set to get a fourth jail at Narela in outer Delhi to cater exclusively to high-risk prisoners, officials aware of the matter said on Monday, adding that the new facility will likely be ready in the next two years.
The officials said that the Delhi home department has given its administrative approval for the new complex, which will cater to 250 high-security inmates, and the Centre has allocated ₹120 crore for its construction.
Delhi currently has three prison complexes — Tihar, Rohini, and Mandoli — that are designed to cater to a cumulative 5,200 inmates, though the present strength of prisoners in Delhi jails is 17,000.
A senior Delhi government officer said the new jail will be constructed along the lines of a “Pennsylvania system” — also called the “separate system” —in which inmates are confined in complete isolation from other prisoners, similar to Cellular Jail, the now-defunct British colonial prison complex at Andaman & Nicobar Islands.
“It will be a three-storeyed structure with multiple wings connected to a central watch tower, shaped like spokes of a wheel. Communication of any kind will not be possible between prisoners in the same or different wings,” the official said, asking not to be named.
“Each cell will be 15 feet by 8 feet in size, secured by a heavy iron grill door with a specially designed automated lock system. Some of these cells will have attached toilet facilities. High-risk prisoners with physical disabilities will be kept there,” he added.
Director general (prisons) Sanjay Baniwal said that the construction of cells has been planned in such a manner that high-risk inmates can neither see nor talk to any other inmate. “It will curb their interaction, which often results in forming gangs inside the prison. This jail will also have in-built cell phone jammers in all its wards.”
According to Beniwal, the new jail will have its own hospital, and will also have a facility to present inmates virtually before the courts. The Delhi government official quoted above said that jail staff — superintendents, jailors and other support personnel — will be provided residential quarters within the complex.
The jail will also have an automated locking system, which get triggered in cases of riots or in-prison clashes, the official said, adding that the prison administration has received inputs related to design, structure and security mechanism from three jail complexes in Jammu, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan.
“Unlike the existing padlock systems in Tihar, Rohini and Mandoli jails, the new jail in Narela will have a locking system that can be opened or locked only by the biometrics of the bona fide jail staff,” Beniwal said.