Demolition of Warangal central prison gathers steam

WARANGAL: As part of the state government’s decision to build a multi-speciality hospital in place of Warangal Central Prison, demolition of the 135-year-old structure is progressing amid high security.

Not even the media is being allowed near the premises. In fact, the main road between Kakatiya Medical College and MGM hospital has been completely cordoned off with heavy deployment of police personnel.

Ever since Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao visited the jail on May 22, works to shift it have been taken up on a war-footing. The inmates were shifted to various jails and the land was handed over to the medical and health department, paving the way for its demolition.

Rao, who is likely to inaugurate Warangal Integrated Collectorate on June 20, is also expected to lay foundation stone for the proposed hospital. It will provide medical services to people in the 12 eastern and north-eastern districts.

From the 73 acres of land that is available, five acres are earmarked for Kaloji Narayana Rao University of Health Sciences building with the remaining area marked for the multi-super speciality hospital.

Meanwhile, the secrecy being maintained by officials with regard to the demolition is raising several questions. Even the general public is dismayed at inconvenience caused following closure of the road.

Built in 1886, during the regime of the sixth Nizam Mir Mahbub Ali, the jail grew into a correctional facility where the inmates were made to find a livelihood within the confines of the jail walls.

The new central prison is expected to be built in the premises of the Telangana state special police 4th battalion campus. Officials have conducted a survey on the extent of land and its feasibility.