The superintendent of the Balurghat correctional home in the mango orchard nursed by the inmates. Telegraph picture

Balurghat (South Dinajpur), April 22: The best mangoes in town, grown in the district jail.

The nearly 700 trees in the Balurghat correctional home have produced what could be called a bumper crop this year, leaving the prison authorities with a problem: how to dispose of some 60,000 mangoes.

The fruits will not go up for sale, though.

Instead, a festival will be held in the prison sometime in May where they will be distributed among orphans, the aged, minors living in government-run homes and the physically challenged.

The inmates, too, will get some of them.

“I have already sought permission for the festival from the inspector-general of prisons,” said the superintendent of the correctional home, Meiyamodo Gwynn.

The trees, which had burst into flower around the end of winter, are now stooped with the weight of the fruits.

The mangoes are said to be of the Amrapali variety, which is known to be sweet and costs around Rs 30 a kilo in early season.

“The quantity is too large for 300 inmates to finish all the fruits even if they have them day in and day out,” Gwynn said. “So we decided to distribute them.”

Orphanages, old-age homes, government centres for children and institutions which care for physically-challenged people would be sent invites for the festival.

The inmates, who have tended the trees over the past three years, would hand over the mangoes to the invitees.

The jail, spread over 20 acres was built in 1991. Large parts of it remained unutilised until Gwynn allowed the inmates to cultivate the land.

The inmates now eat what they produce — potato, tomatoes, eggplant, cauliflower and cabbage.

The inspector-general of prisons lauded the idea of the festival. “It will help bridge the gap between the world inside the prison and the one outside,” said B.D. Sharma.

Jails minister Biswa- nath Chowdhury said other correctional homes should emulate the Balurghat example.