‘REPORT ON THE ADMINISTRATION OF THE BOMBAY PRESIDENCY, FOR THE YEAR 1888-89’ [‎18r] (42/456)

SUMMARY.
XXV
Cou rts and tk
Poona.
^'ty on the part
=ommodation i t
Jarl y w the year
for women anj
tal was followed
1 'aable piece oi
1 Wadia, for the
son of the first
)f a laboratory
f the deceased,
to Government
the erection of
Among other
Sorabji Cowasji
and a donation
dispensary for
imply provided
one exception
as been a most
o record that a
iltimately form
' be met wholly
shments were
he commence^
3 of which was
I construction
d Ahmednagar
by a number of
be expected to
3 f these tribes,
f water-supply
iroject for the
tmedabad, wa«
military works
ere carried out-
5 lakhs One lakh is equal to one hundred thousand rupees of the
original works,
European troops
ken towards tb
a on the opposite
ter. The tolal
irks amounted to
letion, and those
the Satara W
,d was complete
[dency during®
pended on cap#
1, and the m
1888-89.]
wad, Wdghad and Parsul tanks in the Presidency The name given to each of the three divisions of the territory of the East India Company, and later the British Raj, on the Indian subcontinent. proper, and the Desert
Canal and Eastern Nara works in Sind. Owing to scarcity of labour and material
the work at the Bhatgarh lake, which forms the storage reservoir of the Nira
canal, made somewhat slower progress than in the preceding year. The dam
was raised to a height of 300 feet above the level of the river, and the earthy
work and masonry of the main canal were completed from the 72nd to the 95th
mile. To meet a large extra demand for water power from the Gokak Mill
Company, the construction of a storage work near Gokak was commenced and
had made some progress by the close of the year.
The partial failure of the rain in the greater portion of the Presidency The name given to each of the three divisions of the territory of the East India Company, and later the British Raj, on the Indian subcontinent. led
to a demand for water from the various irrigation works which largely exceeded
that of any previous year, and in some cases was in excess of the available
supply. In the Presidency The name given to each of the three divisions of the territory of the East India Company, and later the British Raj, on the Indian subcontinent. proper the area irrigated rose from 190,113 acres
in 1887-88 to 222,878 acres; and the net revenue from less than 4| to more
than 5 lakhs One lakh is equal to one hundred thousand rupees . The increase occurred almost exclusively in connexion with the
strictly Government works for which capital and revenue accounts are kept ;
the area irrigated from works of this kind exceeding that of 1887-88 by 71 per
cent., and that of 1885-86, the previous year of highest record, by 33 per cent.
In consequence of the reductions in establishment referred to in a preceding
paragraph, the working expenses of the department in Gujarat and the Deccan
exhibited a satisfactory decrease in comparison with those of the previous year
from nearly 4£ lakhs One lakh is equal to one hundred thousand rupees to 3^ lakhs One lakh is equal to one hundred thousand rupees . The actual decrease in the establishment
charges on these works as compared with the charges in 1886-87 was 1^ 0 lakhs One lakh is equal to one hundred thousand rupees ,
but this was partly counterbalanced by increased outlay on the repair of the
works.
The extension of the lines of railway under the control of this Government Railways,
during the year was not very marked ; still some progress was made. The total
length of line open to traffic was increased from 4,968 to 5,125 miles, the main
additions being the opening of the section—67 miles—between Junagad and
Veraval in Kathiawar, and of the section—79 miles—of the Mysore State Kail way
between Harihar and Berur. On the G. I. P. Kailway the whole of the section
between Bhusaval and Khandwa was doubled and the second line brought into
use; while on the Bhusaval-Sheagaon section the second line was only opened
as far as Nargaon. Under the contract with the Indian Midland Kailway Com
pany the working of the Itarsi-Bhopal Kailway was transferred to that company
from the G.L P. Kailway Company and its control is no longer vested in this Gov.-
ernment. There were at the close of the year 460 miles of new line still under
construction, the principal being the Bellary-Kistna, the Mysore Extension, and
the Porbandar branch of the Kathiaw&r system. On all of them considerable
progress was made and all should be open during the ensuing year, A short
branch to connect Kolhapur with the Southern Maratha Railway at Mi raj was
sanctioned at the close of last year and its construction actively proceeded
with. This branch is being constructed entirely at the cost of the Kolhapur
State and by its own officers. As regards projects for future extension, 405
miles bad been or were being surveyed, the most important being the link
between Godhra and Rutlam, 111 miles, a line much wanted to connect Gujarat
with Central India. A project for a short branch line from the Southern Maratha
Kailway of about 30 miles in extent southwards into the Kanara forests
was also investigated as a Provincial measure, but the results were not very
favourable. A survey was also undertaken for a short military service railway
at Aden to connect Steamer Point with the outlying suburb near the frontier at
Sheikh Othman. In consequence also of a desire on the part of the Kao
of Cutch for railway development within his State, correspondence with the
b 692—7 s