( 3 )
returned a rate of 23.77 only during the year under review. Among towns,
Sahibganj in the Sonthal Parganas was again the worst sufferer, but with a
decreased mortality of 35.06 per mille, as again 40.75 per mille in 1909. On
the basis of the figures for the last six years, Bihar
and Chota Nagpur are markedly more feverish
than either Bengal or Orissa, and the comparative
rates of mortality, in each during 1910 are repro-
duced in the margin. Anti-malarial measures were
carried on in North Barrackpore, (mainly at the
cost of Government), and in Cossipore-Chitpur, Manicktolla, Garden Reach,
Titaghar, Panihati, Hazaribagh and Daltonganj, at the expense of the local
Municipalities.
Bihar ... ...
Chota Nagpur ... ...
Bengal... ...
Orissa ... ...
Death-rate
from fever
per mille.
24.02
20.24
17.82
12.22
10. A Provincial Malaria Committee was appointed during the year with
a view to supervising the continuous investigation of the question of the
prevalence of malaria, and an executive staff consisting of a Special Deputy
Sanitary Cammissioner and an Assistant Surgeon was placed at its disposal.
It is hoped that more systematic methods of work will eventually result in the
discovery of some means of dealing with this scourge, although the financial
difficulty of executing works of drainage, etc., on an extensive scale has not yet
been solved.
The successful experiment of appointing itinerant Sub-Assistant Surgeons
to specially malarious districts was continued and extended, 23 Sub-Assistant
Surgeons being deputed, as against 19 in 1909, to work in seven districts as
compared with six in 1909. In Purnea the experiment was tried, with some
success, of a regular free issue of quinine to Government servants in receipt
of pay of Rs. 10 per mensem and less, but it is significant that the districts of
Shahabad, Darjeeling and Purnea, in which the highest mortality from
malaria was recorded, show a comparatively small consumption of this drug.
11. Dysentery and diarrhœa.—Following the increased prevalence of
cholera, there was a corresponding rise in mortality from this cause, the number
of deaths being 45,902, or .90 per mille, as compared with 35,981 or .71 per
mille in 1909. The Orissa Division, as usual, suffered most, and the Bhagalpur
Division least.
12. Respiratory diseases.—The number of deaths reported from this cause
was 15,447, as compared with 15,071 in 1909. As noticed in previous reports,
the figures cannot be accepted as reliable.
13. Injury.—Twenty-five thousand, three hundred and fifty-seven deaths
occurred under this head, as compared with 27,280 in the preceding year. It
is noticeable that the Sanitary Commissioner reports that the districts of
Cuttack, Jessore, the 24-Parganas and Nadia always return the largest
mortality from suicide, while the number of females who took their own lives
was almost double that of males. Ninety cases of snake-bite were treated with
permanganate of potash, as compared with 59 during 1909, of which nearly
82 per cent. are claimed to have recovered. Nine cases, out of 11, treated with
antivenene in Saran proved successful.
14. Sanitary improvements.—The total expenditure by municipalities on
conservancy, drainage and water-supply during the year 1909-10 continued to
increase, and amounted to Rs 24,88,154, which is Rs. 2,90,774 in excess of the
figure of 1908-09. It is satisfactory to note that there was a marked improve-
ment in the working of the septic tank installations on the banks of the
Hooghly, and it is reported that analysis shows the effluent to be virtually
sterile as it passes into the river. The Sanitary Commissioner's laboratory was
enlarged during the year, and all water analyses (both chemical and bacterio-
logical) are now undertaken at it.
15. Sanitary Board.—During the year under report, sketch projects for
six water-supply schemes (at Uttarpara, Puri, Bankura, Kalna, Satkira and
Patna, respectively) were under consideration, and 13 water-supply schemes
(at Darjeeling, Monghyr, Bhagalpur, Naihati, Bhatpara, Jessore, Gaya,
Serampore, the South Subarban Municipality, Hooghly-Chinsura, Howrah,
Khulna and Kurseong) were either under construction or had reached the
stage when tenders for the contracts had been called for. A comprehensive
and expensive scheme for the supply of water to the whole of the Jherria coal
fields was also under examination. From the statistics furnished by the