NationalLibraryOfScotland/medical-history-of-british-india huggingface dataset:
222
SANITARY REGULATIONS.
[SECT. X.
between the inmates of the Jail and the infected locality, either directly or
indirectly.
292. More than ordinary attention should be paid to all the usual con-
servancy arrangements of the Jail.
293. Such alterations in the Jail diet as may be calculated to guard
prisoners from liability to the attacks of epidemic disease shall be adopted on
the recommendation of the Medical Officer.
294. Fires of grass and green-wood shall be lighted in the wards and
yards daily, so as to purify thoroughly the Jail.
295. The Hospital shall be white-washed, and especial care be taken that
all Hospital arrangements to meet an out-break of epidemic disease are
complete.
296. Camping sites. —It is the duty of every Officer in charge of the Jail,
in communication with the Civil authorities and Superintendents of Police,
to have marked out suitable camping sites for the removal of prisoners on the
occurrence of epidemic disease in the Jail.
297. It is of essential importance that these sites should be selected for
every Jail, and that the selection of sites should not be delayed until the
occurrence of epidemic disease.
298. Every Officer in charge of a Jail will make a Quarterly Return to the
Inspector-General of Jails, stating whether any change in the selection of sites
for such camps has been rendered necessary from any cause soever.
299.
Requirements of camping sites. —The requirements of the site
of such a camping ground are as follows :—
(a.) It should be easy of access and neither to windward or leeward of
any Military Cantonment, Civil station or Native town, nor within a distance
of two miles of such place.
(b.) It should not be on the great lines of communication, or thorough-
fares, or villages.
(c.) The ground should be high, with natural facilities for drainage.
(d.) There should be a good supply, if possible, of drinking water.
(e.) Rank vegetation is objectionable, and experience has shown that
thick topes of trees should be avoided.
(f.) The distance of camping ground from the Jail must depend on local
circumstances, but as a rule two or three miles will probably suffice.
(g.) The site should be selected with special reference to its state during
the rains.
(h.) The camping ground should be measured, and the number of
prisoners with their guards, which it is capable of accommodating, recorded.
SECT. X.]
SANITARY REGULATIONS.
223
300. Diseases which may necessitate removal to Camp.—The
diseases which in Jails have a tendency to assume an epidemic character, are—
Cholera.
Small-pox.
Fever.
Jail Diarrhœa.
301. " EPIDEMIC" CHOLERA.—To remove doubts which have arisen as to
when cholera shall be considered to have assumed an epidemic tendency,
the following rule is prescribed for the observance of the Medical Officer in
charge of the Jail, with whom rests the responsibility of declaring that any
of the four diseases mentioned above has assumed such a degree of epidemic
intensity as to render the removal of prisoners necessary :—
302. If, within one week after the first case of cholera has shown itself in
a Jail three or more cases occur, it shall be considered that the disease has
assumed an epidemic form."
303. REMOVAL TO CAMP SMALL-POX, &C.—In respect of small-pox, fever,
and diarrhœa, the Medical Officer shall, in consultation with the Officer in
charge of the Jail, determine whether only the prisoners attacked should be
removed from the Jail or whether it is necessary to move the whole of the
prisoners.
304. Cholera.—In the case of epidemic cholera, the whole body of pri-
soners will, as a general rule, be removed into the camp provided for the out-
break of epidemic disease in the Jail, and be located in tents or in temporary
huts erected for that purpose. Notice will be given to the District Police
Officer to enable him to make the requisite arrangements for safe custody.
3 0 5 . D I S C R E T I O N T O B E U S E D , W H E N S E A S O N I S U N F A V O R A B L E . — I t
may
happen that an epidemic disease occurs during the height of the monsoon, in
which case it will be for the Medical Officer to exercise a discretion as to the
removal of prisoners.
306. TENTS.—The Officer in charge of a Jail at a station at which there
is a Camp Equipage depôt shall indent on such Depôt for a supply of the tents
necessary for the accommodation of prisoners to be moved into camp.
307. In like manner, Officers in charge of Jails accessible by Railway
will indent by telegraph on the nearest Camp Equipage Depôt for a supply of
the tents required.
308. Provision will be made for supplying tents to Jails not within easy
reach of a Camp Equipage Depôt, unless from local circumstances huts can be
easily and quickly constructed, so as to supply this accommodation for pri-
soners instead of tents.
300.
309.
Precautions when removal to camp is not followed. —Where
epidemic disease has broken out in a Jail, and it may not be considered desir-
224
SANITARY REGULATIONS.
[SECT. X.
able to remove the prisoners into camp, the following precautions will be
observed in the Jail during the prevalence of the disease :
—
(a. ) CHOLERA AND JAIL DIARRHŒA.—The prisoners shall be organized in
small gangs for exercise beyond the Jail walls.
(b.) Work in factories shall be relaxed, but not entirely discontinued.
(c.) The most scrupulous attention shall be paid to the state of the
privies.
(d.) Disinfecting and deodorizing agents shall be freely used, such as
MacDougall's powder, charcoal, wood-ashes, coal tar, and earth, and every
precaution connected with " dry earth conservancy" shall be most carefully
and continuously enforced.
(e.) If soiled, the cell-floors shall be re-made, the walls shall be scoured
with a stiff broom, removing from their surface, and down from the roof every
particle of dust or animal matter.
(f.) A wood fire shall be burned in each cell, the doors and windows
being temporarily closed.
(h.) Special attention shall be paid to the boiling and subsequent filtra-
tion of all drinking water.
(i.) A portion of the Jail establishment shall be organized as a guard
for night work ; this guard should go round frequently to the cells, wards,
&c., to ascertain if any prisoner has been taken ill, and to remove him to
the hospital at once.
(i. ) All over-crowding must be strictly avoided, not only in the hospital
but in every cell and ward. It will be necessary to remove from the hospital
all cases other than cholera, and locate them in cells or a factory shed should
there be no other accommodation.
(j.) During the prevalence of cholera and Jail diarrhoea, slight cases
of colic or ordinary diarrhœa must be treated separately. They shall not be
admitted into hospital until the characteristic symptoms of cholera and Jail
diarrhœa have appeared.
(k.) The hospital floors shall be thickly sprinkled with powdered char-
coal, wood-ashes, and earth; the dejecta shall be immediately removed, and
the wood-ashes and earth swept up and removed when any portion becomes
soiled by the discharges.
(l. ) The charcoal nets in the hospital shall be increased in number, and
the charcoal more frequently re-placed than under ordinary circumstances.
N. B.—The same rules apply to the sleeping cells or wards.
(m. ) The alvine discharges on being removed from the hospital shall be
collected outside in an iron pan, with a suitable cover, into which a quantity
of MacDougall's disinfecting powder has been thrown, they shall, as frequently
SECT. X.]
SANITARY REGULATIONS.
225
as possible, be carried off to the garden. trench, which shall on each occasion
be covered over with six inches of earth.
( n. ) The hospital latrines demand the most scrupulous attention to
cleanliness.
(o.) The utmost attention to personal cleanliness shall be enforced in
the case of every prisoner ; small bathing and washing gangs, to be frequently
relieved, shall be organized for this purpose.
(p.) The hospital clothing, or clothes and bedding used by patients, shall
invariably be burnt.
( q.) It frequently happens that the hospital passage gets saturated with
choleraic discharges. A layer of fine sand and ashes, a couple of inches
thick, should be spread along the passage. This ought to be swept up and
removed as often as any portion gets soaked, and fresh sand or ashes strewed
in its place. The trench for the reception of the hospital filth need not be far
removed all that is required is, that the excreta should be constantly covered
with sifted earth.
(r. ) The water in which the prisoners have bathed or washed their
clothes shall not be allowed to be thrown within the Jail walls.
(s. ) Wood fires shall, under due precautionary measures, be kept burn-
ing to the windward, and within the Jail enclosure, night and day, on the occur-
rence of any epidemic, in cases where it may not be practicable to remove the
prisoners either into another building or into tents.
( t. ) Attention shall be paid to the diet, which should be modified in such
a manner as the Medical Officer in charge may consider desirable.
310. FEVER AND SMALL-POX.—The sanitary measures already laid down
will readily recommend themselves for adoption in this form of epidemic
disease in Jails. Instead, however, of collecting, as in cholera, all cases in
hospital, they should be segregated whenever separate buildings are available.
Most scrupulous attention must be paid to all conservancy arrangements within
the Jail To ensure this, most constant attention is required by the Medical
Officer in charge of the Jail.
311. JAIL CAMPS.—When prisoners are moved into camp dry straw should
be procured for the prisoners to sleep on, and cots for the sick.
312. In camp there should be two detached hospitals, one for the treat-
ment of miscellaneous cases, and the other for the treatment of epidemic
cases. These should be to the leeward of, and some distance from, the camp.
313. CONSERVANCY.—Careful attention should be paid to the conservancy
of the camp, and the trenches should be dug every clay to the leeward of the
position. To these trenches the prisoners and all connected with the camp
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SANITARY REGULATIONS.
[SECT. X.
should be made to go for the purposes of nature. These trenches should be
covered over with earth every evening.
314. If the disease continues in frequency and virulence for three or four
days after the removal of the prisoners, it will be advisable to shift the
camping ground.
VII.—Fairs and Festivals.
315. The following rules are drawn up for the special guidance of Magis-
trates and others who may be entrusted with the supervision of large assem-
blages of persons at fairs and festivals.
G. O. No 1421 of
17th Nov. 1868 P. D.
316. Accommodation.—Make suitable provision for the probable
number of persons who may not be able to find accom-
modation in adjacent towns and villages as follows :
—
( i . ) S e l e c t , l e v e l , a n d l a y o u t s u i t a b l e e n c a m p i n g g r o u n d s , b e a r i n g i n
mind the principal requirements of elevation proximity to place
of concourse sufficiency of a pure water supply dry, clean, and
untainted soil, and direction of prevailing winds.
( i i . ) L a y o u t t h i s g r o u n d i n d i v i s i o n s o r s e c t i o n s , s e p a r a t e d b y s t r e e t s
not less than 40 feet wide, and, when space permits, with subsidiary
streets 20 feet wide.
(iii.) Erect upon these sites temporary sheds or huts for the accom-
modation of those who may require them.
(iv.) Leave space to leeward of each section for the carts and cattle
of the people occupying each section.
(v.) As far as possible assign sections to different castes, indicating
each by a legible sign-board.
317, Conservancy.—I. Erect suitable latrines for males and females,
in number sufficient to meet the requirements of the crowd.
II. Establish separate pits for the burial of ( a) rubbish and (b) filth.
III. Organize a conservancy establishment, according to requirements,
for the following purposes :
—
( a ) T h e r e m o v a l d a i l y o f a l l r u b b i s h a n d r e f u s e , i n c l u d i n g t h e d u n g
of cattle from the streets, both of the town and camp, and from
the encamping ground generally.
(b)The removal of all human excreta from the public latrines, and
from residences within the town.
(c. ) The disposal of the same in the filth pits.
318. Water.—I. Select suitable but distinct tanks, wells, reservoirs or
other sources of water supply
(a.) For drinking and domestic purposes.
( b. ) For ba t hi ng.
SECT. X.]
SANITARY REGULATIONS.
227
(c.) For watering cattle.
II. Place a Police guard over the source of supply selected for drinking,
to guard it from contamination.
319. Medical supervision. —I. Appoint as Sanitary Officer a Medical
or Subordinate Medical Officer, whose duty it shall be to superintend the sani-
tary arrangements generally; to visit the hospitals and places for distribution of
medicines ; to make himself acquainted with the medical history of the assem-
blage, as far as possible, from day to day, keeping a return of all deaths
reported through the Police.
II. Establish temporary hospitals, with suitable establishments, at con-
venient sites, and in number proportionate to the assembly.
III. Depute Medical Subordinates to examine at the barriers all travellers
coming or departing, who may appear to be laboring under sickness.
IV. Distribute, through suitable agency and at selected localities,
' cholera pills' for immediate use by persons attacked with cholera.
320. Precautions against accidents. —I. Assign gates for ingress and
egress into each town, temple, or shrine, in cases in which numbers are con-
siderable, and where instances of loss of life have occurred from want of due
arrangements of this nature.
II. Erect barriers, where necessary, to prevent the undue influx of
people into limited areas fully occupied by devotees, admitting fresh worship-
pers only as numbers decrease by egress from the opposite barrier gate.
321. Police (Sanitary).—I. The Officer of Police to be instructed to
bring to the notice of the Sanitary Officer all deaths occurring within the limits
of the camp or town.
II. Publicity to be given, through the Police, to the fact that hospitals
are established, and depôts opened, for the distribution of cholera medicines.
III. Notices to this effect to be posted in the vernacular all over the
camp and town, and pilgrims, or those frequenting fairs, to be instructed to
apply for such medicines on the first occurrence of illness.
IV. Notices of the arrangements made for the general convenience of
the people to be also freely distributed amongst them, and posted upon all
conspicuous places.
322. Construction of Latrines.—I. Latrines to consist of walled enclo-
sures, in which parallel trenches should be dug two feet wide by three feet
deep. The soil removed from these trenches to be stored at their edges, and
a portion daily shovelled in to cover the night soil.
II. At the termination of the feast these trenches should be fully
covered in.
323. General precautions. —I. Prior to feasts and festivals, chuttrums,
choultries, and grounds generally resorted to by pilgrims as camping or halt-
228
SANITARY REGULATIONS.
[SECT. X.
ing grounds, to be put by district authorities into a good sanitary condition,
and provision made for a pure water supply. The same to be maintained in
a good sanitary state till after the dispersion of the pilgrims.
II. At the termination of the feast or festival, should cholera have
prevailed amongst the people, the halting grounds to be ploughed up, and
chuttrums and choultries fumigated and white-washed.
VIII.—Municipal Regulations.
ESTABLISHMENT OF MUNICIPAL COMMISSIONS AND CONSTITUTION OF MUNICIPAL
FUNDS. (ACT X. OF 1865.) *
* * * *
V I .
A p p o i n t m e n t a n d r e m o v a l o f T o w n C o m m i s s i o n e r s .
— I n a n y
town to which the operation of this Act shallhave been extended, the Governor in
Council shall appoint any number not less than five, of the inhabitants thereof,
to be Town Commissioners for carrying out in such town the purposes of this
Act. The persons so appointed shall continue in office year, or until their
successors shall have been appointed, and shall be eligible for re-appointment.
The Governor in Council may, from time to time, remove any of such Commis-
sioners, add to their number, and fill up vacancies occurring among them.
I.
VII. EX-OFFICIO MEMBERS.—In addition to the Members to be appointed
as aforesaid, the following Officers shall be ex-officio Commissioners for every
Town within their jurisdiction, to which this Act shall be extended ; that is
to say :—The Magistrate of the District, and the Officer of the Public Works
Department in executive charge of the range.
II.
VIII. MAGISTRATE OF THE DISTRICT TO BE EX-OFFICIO PRESIDENT, AND TO
APPOINT VICE-PRESIDENTS.—The Magistrate of the district shall ex-officio be
President of the Municipal Commissioners, for all towns within the district
under his charge, and shall from time to time appoint such persons being
Municipal Commissioners as he may think fit, to be Vice-Presidents of the
Municipal Commissioners for their respective Towns.
* * * *
XIII. The Municipal Funds.— A l l m o n e y s , r e n t s , a n d p r o f i t s r e c e i v e d
by the Municipal Commissioners of any Town and all fines, fees, and penalties
paid or levied under this Act, shall constitute a fund which shall be called
the Municipal Fund of such Town, and shall, together with all property of
every nature or kind which may become vested in the said Commissioners,
* N O T E . — A c t X o f 1 8 6 5 , w h i c h a p p l i e s t o t o w n s i n t h e M o f u s s i l i s a b o u t t o u n d e r g o
revision. It is proposed to appoint Commissioners for three years instead of one year ; to
limit the number of ex-officioC o m m i s s i o n e r s : t o p r o v i d e i n c e r t a i n c a s e s f o r t h e e l e c t i o n o f
Commissioners by rate-payers and to abolish the rule requiring the Chief Magistrate
to be ex-officio President of all Commissioners in his district.
SCET. X.]
SANITARY REGULATIONS.
229
be under their control, and shall be held by them and their successors in
trust for the purposes of this Act.
*
*
*
*
Mode of transacting business and appointing Municipal Servants.
XVIII. MUNICIPAL COMMISSIONERS TO KEEP AN OFFICE FOR THE TRANSACTION
OF BUSINESS.—The Municipal Commissioners shall keep an Office where they
shall meet for the transaction of business at least twice in every month
upon such days and at such times as they may arrange, and as often as a
Meeting shall be called by the President or Vice-President. And all questions
which may come before them at any Meeting shall be decided by a majority.
XIX. WHO TO PRESIDE AT MEETINGS OF THE MUNICPAL COMMISSIONERS.
—In the absence from any meeting of both the President and Vice-President,
the Municipal Commissioners shall choose some one of their number to
preside.
XX. CASTING VOTE.—In every case of equality of votes, the presiding
Member shall have a casting vote.
XXI. MINUTES OF PROCEEDINGS OF COMMISSIONERS TO BE KEPT, AND TO BE
OPEN FOR INSPECTION.—Minutes of the Proceedings of the Commissioners at
each Meeting shall be drawn up, and fairly entered in a book to be kept
for that purpose ; and shall be signed by the Member who presided at such
Meeting. And the said Minutes shall, at all reasonable times and without
charge, be open at the Office of the Commissioners to the inspection of any
person who pays a rate or tax under this Act.
*
*
*
*
XXIII. THE PRESIDENT OR VICE-PRESIDENT TO EXERCISE, WITH CERTAIN
**********
EXCEPTIONS, THE POWERS OF THE MUNICIPAL COMMISSIONERS.—In any case of
emergency, the President, or, in his absence, the Vice-President shall exer-
cise all the powers vested by this Act in the Municipal Commissioners.
Provided that it shall not be lawful for the President or the Vice-President to
exercise any power which it is by this Act expressly declared shall be exercised
by the Commissioners at a Meeting.
XXIV. APPOINTMENT OF OVERSEERS, CLERKS, AND SUBORDINATE OFFICERS.
—The President shall, from time to time, appoint all such Overseers, Clerks and
subordinate officers and servants, as he may think necessary and proper to
assist in the execution of this Act, and may, from time to time, remove any
of such persons and appoint others in their places. And, out of the Munici-
pal fund, he shall pay, or cause to be paid, such salaries to the said persons
respectively as may be determined by the Municipal Commissioners at a Meet-
ing ; or, in case of absence on leave, such portion thereof as may appear rea-
sonable.
230
SANITARY REGULATIONS.
[SECT. X.
P
* * * *
Purposes to which the funds raised under this Act shall be applied, and how
estimates of income and expenditure shall be framed.
XXV. PURPOSES FOR WHICH THE FUNDS THUS RAISED UNDER ACT SHALL
BE APPROPRIATED.—The funds raised under this Act shall, except hereinafter
provided, be appropriated to the following purposes, that is to say :—
a. The maintenance of the Police Force which shall be maintained under
Section 36 of this Act, including therein their wages, the price of all neces-
saries and accoutrements supplied to them, cost of medical stores and attend-
ance, of buildings erected, rented or repaid for their use, furniture, rewards,
superannuation allowances, and compensation for wounds, stationery, and
other ordinary incidental expenses.
b. The construction, repairing, and cleansing of drains, the making and
repairing of roads, the keeping of the roads, streets, and tanks clean, and
generally doing such things as may be necessary for the preservation of the
public health*
* * * *
Rates, taxes, tolls, and fees leviable under this Act.
XXXVI. RATES, TAXES, TOLLS, AND FEES LEVIABLE.—It shall be lawful
for the Municipal Commissioners, with the approval of the Governor in
Council, to levy, for the purposes of this Act, rates and taxes which may
consist of a rate not exceeding seven and half per cent. on houses, buildings,
and lands, according to the annual value thereof ; or of a tax upon arts, pro
-fessions, trades, and callings ; or of tolls on carriages, carts and animals,
entering the Municipal limits ; or of taxes on carriages, horses and other
animals as described in Schedule C. to this Act annexed, or of fees on the
registration of carts. It shall be lawful for the Commissioners, with the
approval of the Governor in Council, to raise the funds required forthe pur-
poses of this Act, from all or any one or more of the above sources, as they
shall decide.
* * * *
Mode of raising money for works of a Permanent Nature.
LXXVII. MORTGAGE OF RATES, &c.—For the construction of works of a
permanent nature which may be undertaken under the provisions of this Act,
the Municipal Commissioners may, with the sanction of the Governor in
* The proposed Act includes also provision for the " maintenance of hospitals, dispen-
saries, markets, wells, and other works for water supply."