SHILLONG: At a time when prisoner occupancy rate in Meghalaya as on December 31, 2016 stands at 132.2 per cent as per the publication of National Crime Records Bureau, the Nongstoin District jail continues to be in stalemate with no signs of any deadline as to when the project will be completed.
However, sources said the revised estimates for the project were approved recently by the Government and it is hoped that the construction of the project will begin soon
But at present, the jail is in stalemate with no construction taking place since years.
The completion of the Nongstoin Jail has seen unprecedented delay after it was conceived more than a decade ago.
The work on the project stopped in 2014 following non-approval of the revised cost estimate. The Government had earmarked Rs 6.25 crore on December 20, 2003, for the construction of the jail on 10.35 acres of land.
However, the assistant executive engineer (PWD) had submitted a revised proposal of Rs 20 crore to the Home (Jails) Department
The work was finally stopped in 2014 even though construction was almost complete. It was learnt that the Department was also skeptical about the location of the jail, which is in a valley and the movement of prisoners can be visible from the hillocks surrounding it.
Many NGOs in West Khasi Hills in the past few years had submitted memorandum asking the government to complete construction works within the scheduled deadline.
The delay in the completion of the Nongstoin district jail led to overcrowding of the Shillong District Jail as under trial prisoners as well as convicts from West Khasi Hills had to be accommodated here due to lack of space.