Pokhara, July 7

With the beginning of the rainy season, inmates of district prison in Kaski are having a difficult time.

Although a new prison building was recently constructed, it accommodates just 350 inmates from the old prison building. Many other inmates still live in the old prison building with leaking roof.

Although the inmates have complained about the leaking roof to the prison authorities, their pleas have fallen on deaf ears. But, this is not where their problems end.

“Besides the leaking roof, there are only five toilets for as many as 323 inmates, and we have to queue for hours in the morning to use them,” lamented Naike Nara Bahadur Pun Paija.

“We can’t sleep in the rooms due to seepage during rainfall. As many as 75 inmates accommodate themselves on the corridors as only 250 can sleep inside the prison rooms,” he informed, adding they had been facing the problems every year. Paija expressed his dissatisfaction with lack of basic facilities in the new prison building.

The inmates expressed their concern about a number of issues, including meagre daily ration allowance and improper health facility in the jail. “Only common diseases are treated in the prison’s health facility. We have to spend from our own pockets in case of a serious illness,”naike Lakshu Gurung said.

Jailor Hari Prasad Gautam said, “There are problems galore, and we often write to higher authorities about them, but to no avail.”