Dehradun: To ease overcrowding in Uttarakhand jails, the state government has made provisions for constructing six new jails. While the work on two new jails has already been started, the state government is in the process of building four more jails.For police and jail administration, the Uttarakhand government has made a provision of Rs 1,967 crore in its budget for the various projects linked with both departments.At present, there are 11 jails in Uttarakhand, of which majority are overcrowded and there has been a long-pending demand to increase the number of jails in the state.The construction work of district jails in Champawat and Pithoragarh has already been started, whereas the government has identified land for prisons in Uttarkashi, Bageshwar and Udham Singh Nagar districts. Besides, it is also in the process to identify land for a district jail in Rudraprayag district.Sources said that against the sanctioned strength of only 580 inmates, the Dehradun jail houses over 1,066 prisoners. The situation is similar in Haridwar jail, where around 1,030 inmates are putting up against the capacity of only 660.The source added that overcrowded jails pose threats to security of the inmates.Meanwhile, in the budget allocation, the state government has also made provisions of constructing two new police stations and one police outpost. In addition, there are plans to improve the infrastructure of eight other police stations.For purchase of new vehicles by the police department, a provision of Rs 7.42 crore has been made in the budget. Similarly, for construction of residential and non-residential structure, an amount of Rs 19 crore has been reserved in the budget.

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