MUMBAI, April 20 -- After the city's land crunch put paid to two past attempts to construct a state-of-the-art prison in the Mumbai suburbs, the state home department is now eyeing an 11-acre plot of land in Deonar which was cleared of slums by the suburban collectorate last week. The home department has requested chief minister Devendra Fadnavis to give it the plot, and the feasibility of the land is being reviewed by the prison department. The land became available after the suburban collectorate and the BMC demolished over 1,200 shanties along the Ghatkopar-Mankhurd Link Road last week. The plot has been fenced, and officials from the collectorate and the BMC have demanded its immediate allotment for a public utility project to prevent encroachment from happening again. A senior home department official said that the CM had asked the additional director-general of police (prisons) to check the feasibility of the plot for a prison. "Once this is done and the report is submitted, we will formally move a proposal for the transfer of the land from the revenue department to us," he said. "Prima facie it is an ideal plot for the multi-storey prison in suburban Mumbai that we have been planning for years." The jail in suburban Mumbai was planned, as the prison manual mandates a prison for every district. The earlier two attempts failed due to multiple reasons. "The revenue department had allotted us a five-acre plot at Mandale, but it was marshy land, and the actual usage capacity was only about two acres," said another home department official. "Another plot identified at Mankhurd, owned by the ministry of communications, is over 35 acres. "We have asked for part of it, but most of the land is being used by warehouses and is under litigation. The communication between the state and central governments and within their various departments is time-consuming. The proposal has not moved further to any logical conclusion." The officer said that the prison department would require at least 10 acres of land for the new jail. "There are no feasible spots left in the suburbs where the security of the inmates can be protected," he said. "The jail needs to be isolated and in an area without high-rises surrounding the jail structure. The Mankhurd land was ideal in that way, as it had mangroves and marshy land surrounding it. The 11-acre Deonar plot freed of slums last week is also ideal. If it passes the feasibility test and is approved by the CM, the transfer of the land will not take much time." Apart from what the prison manual mandates, a second jail in Mumbai is also necessary to reduce the burden on Arthur Road Jail, which houses over 3,500 inmates against its capacity of 804. According to officials, Arthur Road Jail is the most overcrowded prison in the state, and apart from putting a lot of pressure on jail infrastructure and manpower, puts the security of its inmates in jeopardy. The state government has planned to build a multi-storey prison on the lines of jails in Chicago and Singapore. The jail is expected to be built by the Maharashtra State Police Housing and Welfare Corporation....