Most of the jails in Uttarakhand are overflowing with some of them holding prisoners more than double their capacity, a query under the Right to Information (RTI) Act has revealed.
There are 11 jails in the state which have a capacity to accommodate 3,378 prisoners but the actual number of inmates in these jails is 4,814, information provided by the office of IG (Prisons) in response to an RTI query here said.
While most of the jails have more inmates than their capacity, the worst cases are the sub-jail Haldwani where the number of prisoners more than trebles its capacity and the Dehradun district jail which has more than double the number of inmates it should accommodate.
Sub-jail Haldwani has a capacity to accommodate just 260 inmates but the actual number of prisoners there is 804.
Similarly, at the Dehradun district jail the number of inmates is 1,169 as against its total capacity of 580.
There are 1,190 prisoners at Haridwar district jail whose actual capacity is 840. The number of prisoners at sub-jail in Roorkee also far exceeds its capacity. There are 364 inmates as against a capacity of 244.
Central jail Sitarganj is no better with 638 prisoners lodged against a capacity of 512. Nainital district jail has a capacity to accommodate 71 prisoners whereas the actual number is 113.
Conditions at the district jail in Almora are slightly better as there are 152 inmates against a capacity of 102. In the district jail at Pauri there are 153 prisoners as against a capacity of 150.
Jails where the number of prisoners is less than their capacity are district jails of Tehri, Chamoli and Sitarganj shivir, information provided by the office of IG (Prisons) said.
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