The 30-acre-farmland inside the spacious Central Prison complex on the Bagayam Main Road in Vellore will soon have more fruit bearing trees within its premises as officials have initiated a massive plantation drive of at least 2,000 saplings, roping in inmates and prison staff in the drive. Prison officials said at present, the Central Prison complex has a total of 1,350 inmates, including 150 women prisoners in its complex that spreads over 153 acres near the Bagayam reserve forest (RF) on the Arani route. Besides, 250 residential quarters accommodating over 800 families of prison staff also housed within the spacious wooded premises.
The special plantation drive, which was kickstarted by G.B. Senthamarai Kannan, DIG (Vellore), Prison Department, was aimed at increasing the fruit bearing tree cover in the farm area as fruits and vegetables cultivated in the existing farm have helped the prison officials reduce the total purchase of these perishable items for cooking food for inmates and staff by at least 20%.
