A view of the Gauhati jail. Picture by Biju Boro

Lipika Neog,
Bharalumukh

The Gauhati jail should most definitely be shifted outside city limits. In fact, the new jail site should be at least 50 km away from the city since the limits of Guwahati are expanding by the day. If a jail is located outside the city, security hazards are minimised.

When the Britishers set up the Gauhati jail it was outside city limits. But gradually the city expanded and now the jail is located right in the middle of a busy commercial area.

Let alone the fact that the present location is high security risk, it is also not aesthetically pleasant. The activity inside the prison can be seen from many of the highrise buildings in the neighbourhood of the jail.

J.K. Talukdar,
Zoo Road

The present location of the Gauhati jail is fraught with danger. Any prisoner can easily slip away to safety through the numerous lanes and bylanes of the busy marketplace of Fancy Bazar. The police will be hard put to nab him after such jailbreaks.

The prison, which is also a central jail and needs more space for expansion, should thus be shifted to a site outside the city.

The present site can instead be utilised by the government to create a car parking bay or an exhibition ground for the people.

Prabin Chandra Boro,
Rupnagar

Until a few years ago, Gauhati jail was ideally located. The court and the main police station were just a few kilometres away and prisoners could be taken to and from the jail without much security risk.

However, the city is now bursting at the seams and the jail has come to be located right in the middle of a commercial area.

What is more serious is that the neighbourhood outside the jail is dotted with highrises from where one can easily see the goings-on inside the prison. This is a security hazard and thus the authorities should think of shifting the Gauhati jail to a less-populated area, which would mean outside the city.

Shyam DebNath,
Athgaon

The Gauhati central jail is ideal for prisoners looking for easy means to get away. First there is the busy Fancy Bazar area that has several bylanes and nooks and crannies where one can hide. Second, anybody helping the prisoner escape can easily keep watch from the highrises around the premises. In fact, a part of it also has dense undergrowth through which an escape is easy.

Moreover, for a central jail, the present space of Gauhati jail is simply not enough. It would be better if the prison is shifted to another spacious location.

K.K. Das
Christianbasti

When the British first set up the jail, it was deliberately kept near the court and the main police station so that ferrying prisoners to and from the court was not a security hazard. This basic principle must not be lost sight of.

If the jail is shifted to a location outside the city, then bringing prisoners to the court for hearing will become high-risk affairs. As it is, the landscape of Guwahati and its outskirts is ideal for fleeing.

The jail, at present, is spread over a huge area. This area can be developed and optimum utilisation of the space easily planned out.

High walls should also be built around the campus. If this is done, the jail authorities will get enough space to house prisoners and give them space for recreation. There is absolutely no need to shift the jail.

Haren Kumar Ganguly
Ulubari

The Gauhati jail must not under any circumstance be shifted from its present location. The district magistrate’s office, the court and the main police station are all within the radius of a few kilometres of the jail and this is highly convenient for administrative purposes. The jail must be located near the court and the police stations just in order to minimise security risks.

If the authorities feel that the prison should be shifted because enough space is not available at the present site, then they must also think of developing an area on the outskirts of the city to house both the jail and the court.

Vivek Sharda
Bora Service

The government should not think of changing the location of the jail for the simple reason that the city is going to expand at least by a 100-km radius in the next five years. What will happen then? Will another far-off site be chosen?

For how long will a prison continue to shift premises? This will be an unnecessary drain on the exchequer without a long-lasting solution.

Therefore, one feels that the Gauhati central jail should not be shifted outside the city. Moreover, not many prisoners have tried to or escaped from the jail, which vouches for its security. But since the jail quarters are at present cramped and dilapidated, the government should take steps to make them more livable.

The low-lying areas inside the jail should be filled up to get more space. This will also allow the prisoners to preoccupy themselves with pastimes like weaving, basket-making, cane craft, horticulture and kitchen garden.