Time to free Mumbai of its overcrowded prison?

When gangster Abu Salem moved an application in court seeking relocation to Arthur Road prison from Taloja jail, where he was moved after a skirmish with gangster Mustafa Dossa, a source said he wanted the shift more for the comforts he enjoys in the centrally located city prison than to be one-up over the prison officials. Salem’s associates can easily visit Arthur Road prison, near Saat Rasta or Jacob Circle in Central Mumbai, and give him five-star-quality food daily.

One of the oldest prisons in Maharashtra, Arthur Road jail is officially called the Mumbai Central Prison and is among the very few such facilities in the world to be surrounded by residential and commercial establishments. As a norm, such prisons, or correctional facilities as they are known in some countries, are located outside city limits to ensure better safety and less trouble to citizens.

To make matters worse at Arthur Road, a monorail will soon pass right in front of the prison, which houses hardened criminals owing allegiance to different gangs and terrorist Ajmal Kasab.

Recently, an elected member of the assembly raised a crucial question: why is the state not doing anything to shift the prison out of the city? The question also brought back into focus the overcrowding in the prison, which houses over 2,000 inmates though it was originally meant to lodge only 800.

Arthur Road jail was built by the erstwhile British rulers of India in 1926 as a transit prison, and was outside the then city limits. Over the years, however, the city has engulfed the prison and the high-security facility is now surrounded by residential colonies.

Residents living around the prison face several hardships, which multiply whenever a high-risk prisoner is kept there. Suraj Mehta, who owns a shop located bang opposite the prison gate, says, “In the US, all prisons are outside the city to ensure that society is not disturbed by events inside the prison. But in our case, roads are blocked and entry is restricted, which leads to huge losses.”

According to property experts, the area is prime property — the rate per sq-ft around the prison ranges from Rs12,000 to Rs25,000 for residential and Rs30,000 to Rs60,000 for commercial space. An expert said that if the prison were shifted, around two acres of land (about 90,000 sq ft) would be freed for development. You do the math.