Bursting at seams

High pendency of cases in courts has led to overcrowded state prisons. Packed jails are difficult to manage,with authorities hard-pressed to segregate gangsters and prevent skirmishes between inmates. Arthur Road Jail has an official capacity of just 804 male inmates. However,it lodges more than double the sanctioned capacity. Similar is the case at Thane Central Prison,which has a sanctioned capacity of 1,105 male

inmates but current figures reveal that a whopping 2,012 inmates are lodged there.

Yerawada Jail in Pune has a sanctioned capacity of 2,249 but currently,it accommodates 3,472 prisoners. Aurangabad central prison has a capacity of just 579,but houses 1,149 prisoners. The only prisons that have less inmates than the sanctioned capacity are Nashik Road Central and Taloja.