Bhind: Rs 9.49 Crore Sanctioned to Complete 18-Year-Old Jail Construction

Gwalior: The three-year stalled construction of the district jail in Bhind will finally be completed next year. The government has approved a budget of Rs 9.49 crore to complete the remaining work. The tender process will begin next week, and the construction work is expected to be completed within a year.

The construction of the jail was started in 2014 with a proposed cost of Rs 4.52 crore. However, the cost has now escalated to Rs 32 crore. The Public Works Department (PWD) had been demanding funds to complete the remaining work since November 2022, and finally, the budget has been approved.

The construction work was stalled in 2016, and since then, the cost has been increasing. The PWD had recovered Rs 3.25 crore from the previous construction agency in 2016, and Rs 1.20 crore from the then Superintendent Engineer Kamal Singh Yadav. The remaining amount is still pending.

The jail building was supposed to be completed by 2018, but due to the negligence of the construction agencies and lack of funds, the work was stalled. The old jail building was declared unusable in 2021, and the prisoners were shifted to other jails in Mehgaon, Gohad, Lahar, and Gwalior.

The new jail building is being constructed on a 62,500 square meter area, and it will have a capacity to accommodate 450 prisoners. The old jail building had a capacity of 172 prisoners.

Currently, 150 prisoners are being kept in Gwalior jail due to the lack of space in Bhind jail. The construction of the new jail building is crucial to address the overcrowding issue in the existing jail.

FACT FILE

* Rs 9.49 crore budget approved for completing the remaining construction work
* Rs 22.5 crore spent on the construction work so far
* Rs 10.68 crore additional budget demanded for completing the construction work
* 62,500 square meter area of the new jail building
* 3,360 square meter area of the old jail building
* Capacity of the new jail building: 450 prisoners
* Capacity of the old jail building: 172 prisoners
* 150 prisoners currently kept in Gwalior jail due to lack of space in Bhind jail

"The budget of Rs 9.49 crore has been approved for completing the remaining construction work of the jail. The tender process will begin next week, and the construction work will be completed within a year. We are trying to complete the construction work by next year," said Vipin Sonkar, Executive Engineer, PWD, Bhind.