Bombay High Court directs Taloja prison to ensure clean drinking water for inmates

The Bombay High Court on Thursday directed the Taloja Central prison authorities to ensure that clean drinking water is provided to all inmates, aside from the water being provided for other activities like washing, cleaning, etc. .A division bench of Justices Revati Mohite Dere and Gauri Godse emphasized that having clean water for drinking was a basic human right. “Priority is clean drinking water. It is their basic right. It has to separate from other water which is used for washing etc. You cannot include drinking water with the other water. We do not understand how drinking water can be the same”, the bench said. The Court also urged the prison authorities to consider not measuring or limiting the amount of drinking water provided to prisoners and to try and increase the amount..The Court was hearing a petition filed by an inmate, Abhay Kurundkar, who had called on the Court to direct the authorities to provide adequate water to the jail inmates.The bench had earlier ordered the Secretary of the Raigad district legal services authority (DLSA) to verify whether the water supply available to the inmates of Taloja Central Prison, Maharashtra, was adequate. After the visit, the secretary filed a report with the High Court..After examining the report, the High Court concluded that the water supply to the inmates was indeed inadequate. .“Report says requirement is of over 40 lakhs of water. So far 4,41,000 is being provided. And that water is being used for everything. Is that adequate? How do you expect them to do everything in that one bucket of water? There is cleanliness, hygiene to be looked at,” the Court remarked. .The Court has also called for further information in the matter, including what steps can be taken to improve quality of water and increase water supply and when would a sewage water treatment plant be installed at the prison. .Moreover, the Court asked the Taloja prison authorities to ensure that a water metre is installed and made functional to check how much water is being supplied into the prisons. .The report filed before the Court had highlighted that the water brought into the prisons was stored in Sintex tanks. After transfer from these tanks, the water was stored in the buckets of the individual inmates..The secretary of the DSLA found sediments and dirt in the water stored in the Sintex tanks. Further, transferring the water from tanks to buckets also led to wastage of water, the report specified. The report also suggested that the Taloja prison authorities could provide additional tanks for the storage of water. Steps could also be taken for ensuring that the storage units are cleaned, the report said..The Court after examining the report decided to keep the matter pending for compliance. It will be heard next after 2 weeks. "Appropriate steps be taken to ensure that adequate supply is given,” the bench ordered in the meanwhile.