The State Commission for Human Rights in Kerala (SHRC) ordered the head of the prison department to give an estimate of 23.87 GBP to maintain a rainwater harvesting tank in the district prison Ernaculam to the home department at the earliest.
SHC chairman Alexander Thomas ordered another main secretary (domestic department) to decide on this matter within one month of receiving an estimate from the head of the prison department. The order also stated that there should be no lack of water in prison.
The Commission ordered superintendent engineers Kerala Water Authority (KWA) to increase water supply to the district prison once every four days to once every three days. The order was issued during a session on the SUO Motu case, which was received on the basis of a newspaper message. A secretary from the Ministry of the Interior appeared on behalf of the bow. The session was also attended by a representative of the Central Zone Inspector, a superintendent district prison and engineer KWA.
The Prison Authorities reported the commission that a district prison requires 40,000 liters of water a day, but the KWA offer is often insufficient and irregular. They said the rainwater tank, which has a storage capacity of 1.5 lakh liters, has developed problems due to aging infrastructure.
The estimate of 23.87 GBP Lakh for the maintenance of the tank was submitted to the headquarters of the prison department. The report added that increasing water supply to three days a week would alleviate shortcomings. A representative of the domestic department informed the commission that once the estimate was received, it would be submitted before the working group for the administrative sanction.
KWA superintendent engineer said that the problem does not arise from the office, but from the reduced tank capacity. He made sure the water would be supplied three times a week as soon as the Metro Kochi was completed.
Published – August 8, 2025 22:06
