PANAJI: With an increase in the number of crimes in the state and the resulting increase in arrests of culprits as well as their convictions, the government is facing severe problem as regards unavailability of space in the state prisons/jails for detaining them.

Goa presently has its central jail at Aguada, which is in a very bad shape, besides sub jail at Sada-Vasco and judicial custodies at Panaji, Mapusa and Margao. All these five confinement units have a collective capacity to house 356 prisoners while presently a total of 445 prisoners – including 28 female prisoners – are being kept in the same. This indicates that the Goan jails are crowded with 89 prisoners in excess.
The highly-placed sources also informed that there are 115 under trial prisoners in Goa as against 10,691 under trials in its neighbourhood state of Maharashtra. The sources also informed that the central jail at Aguada, which has a capacity to keep 150 prisoners - including 125 male prisoners and 25 female prisoners – presently houses 156 male prisoners as well as 9 female convicts in addition to 28 under trial female prisoners, taking the total number of prisoners under its roof to 193.
The sub jail at Sada-Vasco has a capacity of keeping 115 prisoners but presently houses 24 convicts and 109 under trials, taking the total number of prisoners to 133. The judicial custodies at Panaji, Mapusa and Margao have a collective strength to hold 91 prisoners but presently hold 119 prisoners; 28 more than its capacity.
Taking note of the seriousness of the situation, the erstwhile Bharatiya Janata Party government in the state had in the year 2002 decided to construct a new jail at Curca in Tiswadi taluka for accommodating around 1,500 prisoners, and had further completed formalities for acquiring 1.5 lakh sq mt of land in the village. However, the project was shelved by the subsequent government and it was decided to construct the new jail at Colvale in North Goa. The new jail is expected to be constructed on the lines of Tihar Jail in New Delhi.
It may be recalled that the government had assured the High Court of completing the construction of Colvale jail by December 2010, however, only the outer protection/compound wall and six watch towers have been completed. The progress of the work clearly indicates that the jail would not be ready as per the schedule.
Interestingly, the state neither has its own jail manual in place nor has it created the post of director of prisons. The district magistrate presently handles the particular duty as an additional charge.