'Report on the Preliminary Survey of The Route for The Central Persia Telegraph Line from Quetta to Bam and Pahra' [‎29r] (62/162)

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will leave the Quetta-Nushki-Siestan trade route, and will continue over open
bare country, in a south-west direction, for the remainder of the distance. In my
former report, paragraph 4B, I gave a description of Ladis, and I then said its
population was about 170 men and 300 women and children. During my recent
visit the population consisted of not more than one quarter of these numbers.
The place altogether had deteriorated, and presented a deserted appearance.
The cause, I was informed, was due to the scarcity of rainfall during the previous
season, and poor crops in consequence. Many people migrated north into
Siestan, and Afghanistan, in search of better food and pasturage for their flocks
of sheep and goats. I was disappointed also in the appearance of Nushki—the
only other place of comparative importance on this route. During my visit there
in 1898 a new bazaar of 126 houses had been laid out, and was under construc
tion, but, now that it has been completed, only about one-third of the houses are
occupied, and some of the remainder are already falling into ruins. A number of
banias appear to have left, and there was no sign of any brisk trade. The
combined telegraph office that was opened there in May 1900 was worked at a
steady loss up to the end of November 1900, the month previous to my visit.
In support of this statement, I quote the following extract from the last official
report dated, I think, January 1901, on the inspection of the Nushki Telegraph
Office by Mr. J. H. Curtis, Assistant Superintendent of Telegraphs, Quetta Sub-
Division.
“Traffic statistics since May show an average receipt of Rs. 29-1-3, or an average loss
of Rs. 13-14-9, per mensem. I do not think that there is any hope of the revenue increas
ing at present."
Estimate, part II.
Quetta to Koh-i-Malik Seah, 478 miles.
3. Before dealing further with the Quetta-Ladis route, I will briefly describe
the remainder of the trade route from
Makak to Koh-i-Malik Seah. The con
ditions under which a telegraph line would
be constructed from Quetta to either
Ladis or Koh-i-Malik Seah are practically the same, so, for convenience, I will
include both routes in the same consideration.
The totals of this estimate are :
Capital cost of line and offices, Rs. 11,30,500;
Annual Maintenance charges, Rs, 35,500 ;
Vidt abstracts given at end of this report.
From Makak to Koh-i-Malik Seah there is no construction difficulty. The
trade route track continues in a north-north-west direction for about 22 miles, the
first 12 of which are over open, bare, stony ground, and the last 10 among stony
valleys surrounded by hills. At the 23rd mile, the track debouches on to a
broad expansive desert plain, extending away towards the north as far as one can
'fcee ; it here changes in direction to north-west, and for the remainder of the
distance, 525- miles, skirts along the base of a continuous range of hills running
down in a south-east direction from Koh-i-Malik Seah. This is the
alignment suggested for the telegraph line in paragraph 5 A of my pre
vious report. Formerly the trade route entered these hills, and continued
along winding valleys through them, but the course now adopted is a decided
improvement. A telegraph line could conveniently be kept lower down on the
plain than the trade route track ; the latter is too close to the hills where the ground
is cut up by numerous water channels ; further down these water channels gra
dually disappear, and the ground becomes more even. The distance would
probably become a little longer by adopting this suggestion, but the advantage
in having level ground, instead of a switchback course, for camel transport to
travel on would more than counterbalance this objection.
Alignment and marking out.
4. In my former report I made a few remarks on alignment and marking out
in connection with each estimate dealt with, but then I had the advantage of having
traversed the country I was writing about twice, in two directions. During my
recent tour I travelled rapidly over new country once only, so that any notes
I made on the subject of marking out are hardly worth recording here. I may,
however, say that there will be no difficulty in selecting a suitable alignment for
a telegraph line from Quetta to Ladis, or Koh-i-Malik Seah, except in the vici
nity of the sand hills between Padag and Dalbandin.