'Report on the Preliminary Survey of The Route for The Central Persia Telegraph Line from Quetta to Bam and Pahra' [‎24r] (52/162)

Confidential.
Report on the preliminary Survey for the extension of the Central
Persian Telegraph line to India, via Ladis, or Koh-i-Malik Seah, by
Mr. H. A. Armstrong, Assistant Superintendent, Indian Telegraph*
Department.
Introduction.
i. This report deals with part or the extension of the Central Persian Tele
graph line to India, vul Ladis, or Koh-LMalik Seah. The route which I was
originally instructed to report on was from Quetta to Pahra, Did Ladis, south of
the Kohu-Sultan range of mountains. Subsequent to my departure from Quetta
to survey this route, I received instructions to examine the country between Koh-
i-Malik Seah and Bam, with the object of ascertaining whether a practicable
route could not be found so as to bring the line further north, vid Koh-i-Malik
Seah, instead of taking it so far south as Pahra. A description of both these
routes from Quetta to Pahra, Did Ladis, and from Quetta to Bam, Did Koh-i-Malik
Seah, is now given herein. The estimates of the cost of construction are prepared
in 3 parts, viz., part i from Quetta to Ladis, 430 miles, part II from Quetta to
Koh-i-Malik Seah", 478 miles, and part III from Ladis to Pahra, 163 miles. I have
npt prepared any estimate for extending the line west of Koh-i-Malik Seah, as
I understand construction work in this part of Persia would be undertaken by the
Indo-European Telegraph Department. A brief account of my journey from
Quetta through Western Baluchistan and Eastern Persia is given in appendix III.
Estimate, part I.
Quetta to Ladis, 420 miles.
2. The best alignment for a telegraph line from Quetta to Ladis, 430 miles,
The totals of this estimate are : Would, I think, follow the Quetta-Nushki-
Capitai cost of ime and offices, Rs. 9>79 ooo. Siestan trade route as far as Makak, about
Annual Maintenance charges, Rs. 34,000. . >
Vidt abstracts giv.-n at end of thi» report. 404 miles WCSt of Quetta. LhlS trade TOUte
consists of a camel track, for the most part, through desert country. A description
of it from Quetta to Chahsundan has already been given in my previous report on the
preliminary survey of the route for a telegraph line from Quetta to the Persian
Frontier, dated the 7th May 1899. i need not repeat any of this now, but since that
report was w r ritten, some improvements in the trade route have been made. Small
rest-houses have been built at each halting stage between Quetta and Nushki, and
Dak System of postal communication used in Moghul India and later by the East India Company. bungalows are at present under construction at important stages further
west. The descent from the Kishingi plateau to Nushki has been made easy by
a well made track cut out round the slopes of the hills. The track between
Nushki and Mai, 34 miles, has for a considerable distance been realigned more
towards the south-east, and now skirts the lower slopes of a low range of hills ; this
makes the distance somewhat longer, but is an improvement, as the ground met
with is firmer, and more even than on the old track. The route between Padag
and Yadgar has for a short distance been diverted a little towards the south, and
thus avoids some sand hills. I referred to this diversion on page 3 of my former
report. I now think that a telegraph line could with advantage leave the trade
route altogether for about 40 miles between Padag and Dalbandin, and strike an
alignment of its own further to the south. In this vicinity a large belt of sand
hills runs down from the north-east towards south-west, and continues along
south of the Dalbandin plain. A telegraph line along here would have to cross
this somewhere. The minimum amount of sand would be met with, probably
for about 4 or 5 miles, by making the crossing at right angles to the direction of
the sand belt. The selection of a suitable crossing can of course best be settled
by the officer in charge of the working party, if the construction of the line be
undertaken, as he will have more time at his disposal than I had during my
journey to examine this sand belt carefully. I do not anticipate there will be