Irked by riots, jammers, locals want Gurdaspur jail shifted

Gurdaspur, The recent riots, bursting of tear gas shells and the installation of mobile phone jammers in the Gurdaspur Central Jail have sent the lives of residents of adjoining colonies in a tizzy. A majority of them have now formed a residents’ association which will urge the authorities concerned to shift the prison on the outskirts of the city.
The decision to install the jamming device has meant that the business of commercial establishments on the busy Jail road has virtually come to a halt. The Judicial Complex too is located at a stone’s throw and has been affected.
The device was installed by a Panchkula-based government undertaking — Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL) — in February last year to ensure that inmates do not make calls from their mobiles phones which are clandestinely smuggled inside.
The move has backfired now with the jammer affecting the lives of thousands of residents.
ADGP (Prisons), Rohit Chowdhury said he was looking into ways and means to ensure that the apparatus does not affect residents.
Deputy Commissioner Amit Kumar admitted that the problem was indeed severe. “Our social equilibrium can be jostled when we are without the cellphone for even a minute. I am looking into this situation,” he said. The recent riots and explosion of tear gas shells has meant that voices to shift the jail have become shriller.
Around two years ago a proposal was mooted where the jail would be moved to a plot of land on the Batala road, 4 km from the city. However, officers claim that due to the obstinacy of a ruling party politician in the previous dispensation, a hospital came up in its place.
“The plot was earmarked for the construction of the jail. However, the politician’s petty interests took precedence over the larger interests of his own constituents,” said a senior bureaucrat.
Gurdaspur Congress MLA Barindermeet Singh Pahra has now jumped into the fray. “I will be taking up the issue with mobile companies and the jail officials next week. The interests of the common man are paramount,” he said.