New prison proposed on 54-acre plot at Mankhurd : Hindustan Times

Mumbai

Builders to benefit if Arthur Road jail moved to new site

MUMBAI: The state home department has moved a proposal for a new central prison on a 54-acre plot at Mankhurd. Though the home department has said that it would be an additional facility in the city, sources in Mantralaya said that it could lead to Arthur Road jail being shifted to the new site. Significantly, such a decision would mean a windfall for builders whose real estate redevelopment projects near the existing prison are stuck over security issues.

State home department officials said that the proposal for the new jail was in addition to the existing one at Arthur Road.

The home department has recently moved the proposal to chief minister Devendra Fadnavis, who also heads the home portfolio, for the allotment of the land. The department plans to build a huge central jail for about 5,000 inmates, with other related facilities such as a training college for prison staff, a hospital, a trial court and high security cells.

However, the land has two more claimants before the home department. The urban development department has demanded the land for two of its major plans– a memorial to Sena chief Bal Thackeray and a car depot for the Metro-2 project. Though the Thackeray memorial is unlikely to come up in Mankhurd, the government may find it difficult to compromise on the Metro car depot, especially after the controversy over the land for the depot at Aarey.

When asked, home department officials insisted that the proposal for the new jail was in addition to the existing one at Arthur Road. However, sources in the urban development department said the new jail would not only help the government ease the crowding of the inmates but also give relief to new real estate projects around the jail.

“There are six t o seven projects, a few of them with the proposed buildings of more than 70 storeys, which are stuck because of the height dispute. The home department has proposed to regulate the height of the housing projects coming up in the vicinity to between 150 metres and 500 metres. The Bombay high court has also envisaged restrictions on the projects that have already been passed by the civic body under provisions of the development control rules. The shifting of the Arthur Road jail will pave the way for housing projects,” the officer said.