Annual sanitary report of the Province of Assam.

  • Assam
Date:
[1902]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Annual sanitary report of the Province of Assam. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    21/48 page 11
    SECTION IX. SANITARY WORKS—CIVIL. Municipal expenditure on sani tary works. 41. My opening paragraph in this section of last year’s report might be reproduced Genera) as it stands, as it pourtrays the exact condition of affairs. No one very large sanitary work was undertaken last year, and there is at present no provincial scheme of any importance under consid¬ eration. The incinerators at Manipur and Silchar work as well as ever. The difficulty about getting people to cultivate trenching grounds still remains as before. No one will do it ; and in view of this impasse, I recommend the extension of the practice of incineration, and should be glad to see suitable furnaces put up at all large centres of population. 42. Excluding the towns of Hailakandi, Sunamganj, Karimganj, and Maulvi Bazar which have no separate income, the aggregate actual income of the municipalities, stations, unions, and towns in Assam during the year under report was Rs 2,17,895 and the expenditure on sanitary works including these towns was Rs. 1,65,095, or 75*77 per cent, of the total income, against 80*07 per cent, last year. The expenditure on direct sanitation, which excludes Rs. 42,291 spent on roads and bridges, came to Rs. 1,17,243, or 53‘8i Per cent, of the total income, against 55*29 in 1901. The amounts laid out on principal sanitary works were Rs. 1,159 on vaccination, Rs. 9,597 on drainage, Rs. 27,537 on water-supply, Rs. 69,837 on conservancy, Rs. 4,604 on markets and slaughter-houses, and Rs. 9,902 on sanitary works. The small town of Mangaldai headed the list in point of expenditure on sanitary works, having spent as much as 88 67 per cent, on direct sanitation. Next in order comes the Municipality of Tezpur with a proportion of 77*60 per cent. The Habiganj and Jorhat Unions and the Gauhati and Sylhet Municipalities expended 62*41, 54*57, 57‘75, and 5171 per cent., respectively, on sanitation proper. All the other municipal bodies, except the town of North Lakhimpur, devoted more than one-third of their income to these purposes. The rafe for the town of Lakhimpur was only 22*58, being the lowest pro¬ portion spent by any public body on sanitary works. 43. In accordance with the instructions contained in paragraph 18 of the Resolution by the Hon’ble the Chief Commissioner in the Sanitary Sanitary improveir.ents in rural Report for 1895, the following account is given of the sanitary improvements effected in the rural areas of the areas province during the year: Silchar Local Board.—Two tanks were improved and five more constructed at a total cost of Rs. 630. Repairs were executed to a good number of wells and latrines. Hailakandi Local Board.—-Three tanks were dug at a total cost of Rs. 826. North Sylhet Local Board.—The total amount spent by this Board on rural sani¬ tation was Rs. 3,847, of which Rs. 3,178 were laid out for the improvement of water- supply, and the rest for the conservancy of towns and villages. Five tanks were con¬ structed at places where they were most needed. All the tanks and wells of the Board which numbered 23 of each kind, were kept in a good state of repair, and watchmen were employed to see some of the tanks kept free from pollution. The latrines at Balaganj and Fenchuganj were repaired, and sweepers kept for cleaning them. Karimganj Local Board.— I'he attention of the Board having been devoted to the liquidation of debts and the improvements of its condition, nothing was done towards sanitary improvement in rural areas during 1902. South Sylhet Local Board.—An expenditure of Rs. 3,737 was incurred in excavat- ing eight new tanks, clearing old ones, and repairing wells. Habiganj Local Board.—-The sanitary works carried out. by this Board consisted in the excavation and improvement of tanks, improvement of drains, and repairing of existing tanks and wells. The total sum spent amounted to Rs. 3,562. The Habiganj Union laid out as much as half of its income on conservancy. Sunamganj Local Board.—A sum of Rs. 1,462 was expended for the improvement of water-supply by digging tvvo tanks, repairing and removing weeds from already existing ones, and several roads and roadside drains were repaired and constructed at a total cost of Rs. 2,000. Dhubri Local Board.—Six pucca wells of 4 feet diameter each were constructed and completed on an expenditure of Rs. 2,965. A sum of Rs. 440 was spent for the up-keep of the wells constructed during the previous years. Nothing was spent by this Board on conservancy in rural areas. Goalpara Local Board.—The total amount expended on rural sanitation was Rs. 1,760. Rs. 242 were spent for obtaining 16 stone ware-pipes and Rs. 598 for annual repairs to old wells and Goalpara drainage scheme. This Board expended nothing on conservancy in rural areas.
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