BATHINDA, Dec 7 — In an unprecedented move, the local Central Jail authorities have started pitching up tents to accommodate the increasing rush of inmates.

The Central Jail has been facing shortage of space for the past many years. About 30 undertrials and convicts have been lodged in the tents and the same number of women undertrials and convicts accommodated in a special barrack for women against its capacity of adjusting only 10 women inmates.

Sources said that as the severe cold wave had started sweeping this region, the inmates in the tents had been finding it difficult to keep themselves warm.

The jail officers have not yet written to the higher authorities to make arrangements for creating more permanent space for women inmates whose number is going up.

About 1,400 prisoners and undertrials are lodged in eight barracks of the jail which has the maximum capacity to accommodate 500 persons only. Ignoring the scarcity of space, more and more prisoners and undertrials are being shifted to local central jail from other jails of the state.

Official sources said a few days ago, the strength of women undertrials and convicts was 71 and the total number of inmates was more than 1450. The rush had increased because of shifting inmates of Central Jail, Faridkot, which has been declared unsafe, to other jails of Punjab. Moreover, there is no sub-jail in Mansa district which had been carved out of Bathinda district in 1992.

Sources added that number of inmates in the local jail had been burgeoning as more and more persons were being booked in Bathinda and Mansa districts for smuggling of narcotics under the NDPS Act and other crimes.

The inmates have also been facing problems in using the toilets and bathrooms due to overcrowding. They also faced scarcity of other amenities which are to be given to them as per the jail manual.

Sources said that there was no provision in the Punjab Jail-manual for pitching tents in any of the jail to accommodate the inmates.