Hygiene first

Jamshedpur, June 24: It’s pure aqua for prisoners across state jails, something that most free citizens of Jharkhand don’t enjoy.

Close on the heels of reverse osmosis purification technology that was recently installed at Birsa Munda Central Jail in Ranchi, its counterpart at Karandih will be the second jail in the state to boast this facility.

Installation of the system at Ghaghidih Central Jail by a reputable private firm — five filters with two 50-litre and three 25-litre ones — began on Thursday, and prisoners will get safe water to drink from the beginning of July this year.

Reverse osmosis (RO) is a filtration method that removes large molecules and ions from a solution — read impure water — by applying pressure. It is useful in purifying groundwater.

Inspector general (prisons) Vijay Kumar Singh said all five central prisons would have the RO system, followed by divisional and sub-divisional jails and sub jails.

“We started the facility at Birsa Munda jail, and now Ghaghidih. The rest of the prisons across the state will be equipped with the facility in due course. We took this initiative, as we wanted to provide purified water to inmates. We don’t want undertrials or convicts to catch water-borne diseases,” said the IG.

Talking to The Telegraph, Singh said jails were generally located on the outskirts of a city or township, which made water supply through the local notified area committees or municipal bodies difficult.

“Most jails depend on tube wells or deep boring. As a result, cases of inmates suffering stomach disorders come to us regularly,” he said. A case in point is Ghaghidih’s water source — a deep bore well on the jail premises.

Installation of water purification technology will check these ailments that prisoners suffer from, hope authorities.

Ghaghidih jail superintendent Tushar Ranjan Gupta said prisoners would benefit from hygienic and bacteria-free drinking water. “As jails are part of society, we want to protect prisoners from various diseases,” Gupta said, adding that there were around 1,200 inmates at present at the central jail with a capacity of around 1,500.