By Sahil Makkar
IANS
New Delhi : A warden at the high-security Tihar jail here died of dehydration Wednesday, taking the toll of heat deaths in the prison to seven in seven days and leaving the jail authorities in a tizzy.
Man Singh, a jail warden, died of dehydration in the prison hospital. He was taken to the nearby Deen Dayal Upadhyay Hospital early in the morning and was brought back to the jail after he showed some improvement.
But soon after he had to be taken to the prison hospital where he succumbed to his illness.
Jail authorities said all the deaths were due to natural causes and were mostly due to the intense summer heat sweeping the capital. And in keeping with government rules, they have ordered an inquiry into each one of them.
They added that arrangements were being made to provide some respite from the sweltering heat to nearly 14,000 inmates lodged in different jails. However, they said they were helpless beyond a point as the jail was overcrowded and it also lacked adequate facilities.
"A total of 13,726 inmates are in the jail – more than double of its approved capacity of 6,200. There are over 12 prisoners in a cell, which can accommodate only four to five people. So they feel the heat more and experience suffocation," a jail official told IANS on condition of anonymity.
He said: "The prisoners don't enjoy any facilities like coolers or chilled water even in the intense summer heat here. Cold drinks and lassi (Butter Milk) were banned many years ago without any reason."
Now, authorities have decided to provide lemonade and ice slabs to inmates – but only to those who can buy them.
But keeping ice slabs would only add to the problems, as they are very unhygienic, another jail official pointed out.
"We are worried that this unhygienic ice may worsen matters. Seven people have already died due to heat stroke and stomach problems. We have asked the management to do away with this idea," he added.
Man Singh is the seventh Tihar prisoner to die in the past week.
The first was 23-year-old Amir, who died at Deen Dayal Upadhyay Hospital after complaining of dehydration. He was admitted following an acute stomachache.
Kanwaljeet, a 57-year-old diabetic, died Friday – also after complaining of dehydration and stomachache.
Harish, a drug addict, was admitted to the same hospital Saturday evening with a stomachache. He died Sunday morning.
Ajay, 30, who had been in Tihar since 2005 on charges of murder and was an AIDS patient, died Monday.
Vinod Kumar, 27, and Santosh booked preventively in connection with a minor violence, died Tuesday of dehydration in the jail hospital after their condition worsened overnight.
According to jail sources, the condition of around 15 inmates currently in the jail hospital, is serious. Tihar doctors have been directed to prioritise all dehydration cases over the next two months, till the weather cools down.
"We have asked all jail superintendents and doctors to regularly visit prisoners who are not keeping well," Tihar Jail Director General B.K. Gupta said.