Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan laid the foundation stone for the high-tech District Jail at Taliparamba here on Sunday.
Speaking on the occasion, the Chief Minister said the construction of the jail with advanced facilities would be completed in a time-bound manner.
The district jail is being constructed in 8.48 acres at a cost of ₹18.5 crore. The jail, which is being built in five blocks on two floors, can accommodate 500 people.
It will also have a digital library, state-of-the-art kitchen, dining hall, and garden. An amount of ₹7.7 crore has already been allotted for the first phase of the project. The accused in cases filed at police stations in Payyannur, Peringam, Cherupuzha, Pazhayangadi, Pariyaram, Alakkodu, Kudiyanmala, Srikandapuram, Taliparamba, and Payyavur will be lodged here. At present, they are lodged in various jails in Kannur.
Presiding over the function, James Mathew, MLA, said the government was constructing good prisons with a view to turning prisons into places of repentance.
The Kannur Central Jail, which can house only 800 people, accommodates over 1,200 people at present.
Rishiraj Singh, Director General of Prisons and Correctional Services; M.K. Vinod Kumar, DIG, Northern Region; K.V. Sumesh, District Panchayat President; Mahmood Allamkulam, Municipal Chairman, Taliparamba; T. Latha, block panchayat president; A. Rajesh, grama panchayat president, Pariyaram; S. Santosh, Jail DIG, and C. Jeeja, chairman, block panchayat permanent council, Taliparamba, were present.
