Report of a committee on a plan for cleansing the drains of Black Town.

Date:
1856
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Report of a committee on a plan for cleansing the drains of Black Town. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    28/105 (page 20)
    mere sinking of capital without return; since the works now proposed would be capable of yielding an ample return, sufficient not simply to pay the inter- est of the capital invested, but to afford a large profit if it should be deemed expedient to require it. Besides the direct gain by the use of water power in Government wprks, there would be three principal sources of income; the water supplied for do- mestic purposes, which might be paid for by a house water rate, the irrigation, which might pay as at present, by an assessment, and the Canal navigation, which would pay in the form of a toll. Supposing the whole works to cost even five lacks of Rupees, the interest of that sum at 5 per cent, would be 25,000 Rupees a year, and the repairs and superintendence might probably amount to an equal sum; this would give a total yearly charge af 50,000 Ru- pees. The following scheme shows how that amount might be realized by a very light charge on the benefits conferred by the works. Saving at the Gun Powder Manufactory by the use of water power. Rs. 7,600 Irrigation for 3,000 acres of land at 5 Rs. an acre „ 15,000 House water rate „ 17,500 Carriage' of 200 tons of goods and passengers 12 miles on the Canal daily for 300 days, at 3 Pice per ton per mile „ 11,250 Total Rs.... 51,350 24, Of the land here supposed to be irrigated a part will be rice land ; but that will be for the most part, away from the populous localities. The re- mainder will be gardens and plantations, which will require much less water, but where the quantity taken will be very cheaply purchased at 5 Rs. an acre, as the bad water now raised from Wells costs ten times as much. The house water rate will of course be on a graduated scale; and the poorest class of houses should be free. There are probably about 140,000 houses in Madras; and of the whole number, about 23,500 bear a rental ex- ceeding twenty Rupees a year, as shewn in the statement in the note.* Sup- * The following is a classified list of the houses, obtained from the Assessment office :— Divisions. 1st Division 2nd „ 3rd „ 4th Gth Total N. R. — ITonsos valued at less than 14 Rupees per annum, avc not entered in this Statement. Such Houses or huts consist of one or at the most two rooms. Assessor's OrncE, Madras, 30th September 1852. o S j 315 514 1,125 1,328 2,445 5,727 T3 o 3 CO > . 2,012 2,208 1,201 2,215 4,505 12,141 2,006 1,927 242 847 1,700 6,728 co B, § 2§ StJ ° Sis III 0 V T-* II- 1,471 1,009 127 331 664 3,602 2 I => 5 o ^ X_ o °5S a) cj ira ■° > • 146 49 24 101 70 396 i 3g 3 9 S a ~ ?!! cu <3 -# _Q f CO 8W 51 18 26 104 72 271 38 8 4 53 40 152 r2 <° S3 CI •Br* w 22 7 2 43 77 151 13 6 0 A 64 i