Tanahun, April 14:

Prisoners at the Damauli jail have been jostling for breathing space. Sixty-seven inmates have been forced to live in this dungeon, which has the capacity to accommodate 25 inmates.

Established some 40 years ago, the jail has poor, decrepit infrastructure.

“The prisoners in this crowded jail find it hard to breathe,” security guard at the jail Keshav Bahadur Thapa said.

“We have been forced to manage just three cells for prisoners due to the lack of

sufficient physical structures,” chief of the jail Damodar Sharma said.

“The physical condition of the jail is not good,” he said, adding: “The jail has been

witnessing a shortage of drinking water.”

“Forty-one prisoners have been living in a big cell, seven in a smaller cell and 19 in another cell,” Thapa said.

“The release of five prisoners has been stalled because we have not received orders from authorities concerned,” Sharma said, adding, “The jail management department has been informed about problems of the jail.”

The jail building could not be repaired due to a shortage of funds, Sharma said. The prisoners fear that diseases will spread in the jail during summer, guard Thapa added.