Expedite installation of RO plants at Taloja prison: Bombay HC

A division bench of Justices Revati Mohite-Dere and Gauri Godse was hearing a plea by Abhay Kurundkar, a former police officer and now an inmate of Taloja Central Prison, who was booked in the Ashwini Bidre death case, seeking adequate water for prisoners.

The court had earlier directed the prison authority to provide sufficient clean drinking water to inmates who complained of inadequate water supply, stating that the drinking water should be separate from the water being provided for other activities. It had said clean drinking water is a priority and it was a prisoner’s basic right to avail of the same.

Taloja Prison Superintendent Dattatray Gawade submitted a short affidavit stating that the water from two wells in the prison premises is used only for cleaning purposes and not for drinking purposes and that there are 15 plastic water tanks at present with a capacity of 5,000 litres and the same are cleaned every week.

He added that every month, the water from the said tanks is sent to the public health department at Konkan Bhavan, CBD Belapur, for testing and the report dated June 14 showed that it is safe for drinking. The judges asked Kurundkar’s advocate Sandesh Manikhedkar to inform them if the inmates are receiving more water during the next date of hearing on August 7.