MANSEHRA, Nov 29: The prisoners of the Mansehra sub-jail are facing great hardships and suffering from many diseases due to overcrowding and lack of basic facilities in the jail.

According to a survey, conducted by Dawn, over 270 prisoners, including women, have been lodged in the sub-jail, which has a capacity of about 140 prisoners.

The overcrowding has bred unhygienic conditions in the prison in which most of the inmates are suffering many diseases, including diarrhoea. There are not even enough lavatories for the prisoners in the jail.

Keeping in view the increasing number of prisoners in the jail, the then NWFP government started construction of a district jail at Jallo, four kilometres of Mansehra, to lodge about 500 prisoners, but, unfortunately, the work has not heen completed yet.

The reason of halting the work on the district jail is said to be the embezzlement of funds by some former officials and contractors of the executing agency.

However, the deputy director of works and services, Mansehra, after receiving a grant of four million rupees, has assured the provincial government that the jail would be completed in 2002.

During a visit to the sub-jail, superintendent Akhtar Muneer told this correspondent that the jail was a judicial lockup, which was later converted into to a sub-jail, but facilities had not been provided at the prison.