Instal view cutters, say jail authorities

Maharashtra prison authorities have written a letter to Mumbai Metropolitan Regional Development Authority (MMRDA) on why it is necessary for them to install steel view cutters on the 10.4 km long Phase 2 of monorail corridor between Wadala and Jacob Circle, facing high-security Arthur Road Prison.

This comes after MMRDA requested the state not to insist on them installing steel view cutters. Prison authorities, however, feel that the idea behind the demand for view cutters is to block the view of jail premises so that anti-social elements cannot plan any kind of attack on it from the monorail.

Additional Director General (Prisons) B.K. Upadhyay told The Asian Age, “We have written a letter to MMRDA on why it is necessary for them to install view cutters on the stretch. No one should be able to view what happens on prison premises nor should anyone from inside be able to see the monorail. The MMRDA will have to comply with what has been decided in the No Objection Certificate (NOC) granted to them in 2010.” It was earlier reported by this newspaper that MMRDA is of the view that insistence by prison authorities on installing view cutters is not only unfeasible but also expensive.

Prison authorities stopped construction of monorail corridor on the stretch back in 2010 as they felt that the elevated monorail corridor is very close to Arthur Road Jail, which is a high-security prison housing several high-profile inmates with underworld connections. The prison also houses Lashkar-e-Taiba handler, Abu Jundal, the alleged mastermind of 26/11 terror attacks.

According to MMRDA, the monorail takes only 15 seconds to pass through prison premises and the idea of installing steel view cutters is “extravagant”. However, Metropolitan Commissioner, MMRDA, U.P.S. Madan, did not comment on whether MMRDA will consider what prison authorities have suggested or not.