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"have. This would give the Sanitary Officer the power of assessing the
" fines or revoking them at any stage of the proceedings. The fine should
" be collected through the Courts, but the Sanitary Officer should be officially
" informed by the Judge when the fine is collected, and also by the treasurer
" when the fine has been deposited in the treasury. In this way he can
" keep control of all the steps in the process.
"Another ordinance should be passed giving the sanitary officer autho-
" rity to abate these nuisances himself with his own force when they have
" not been abated by the owner of the property after a week's notice and
" providing that the cost of such work be made a lion against the property—
" which cost is to be collected through the Courts against the owner of the
"property. This is a very important measure, as it enables the sanitary
" officer at no great public expense rapidly to carry into effect his sanitary
" measures himself when the people affected are slow in executing the
" measures ordered.
" A third ordinance should be passed directing that all cisterns, well?,
" gutters and water collection likely to breed mosquitoes must be either
" abolished or so screened and cared for that mosquitoes cannot breed in
" them. With these three ordinances the Health Officer can rapidly get his
" community in such condition that very few stegomyiae can breed, and
" the locality will soon be in such condition that there will be so few
" stegomyiae that Yellow fever cannot spread."
313. At the present time nearly every British Colony in the West Indies
possesses special Public Health ordinances for the prevention of mosquito
breeding, which enforce the drainage, screening and protection of collections of
water; and prescribe heavy penalties in cases of default. Similar ordinances
have also been passed in certain cities in the United States. A number of the
special ordinances and bye-laws in the West Indies were quoted in full in
the appendix to the ad interim report upon Malaria in Bombay published early
in 1910.
faction 2.
314. THE CITY OF BOMBAY MUNICIPAL ACT.—In Bombay the
sanitary administration is conducted under powers contained in certain sections of
the City of Bombay Municipal Act, and it is necessary to examine these sections
carefully in order to determine how far they meet the requirements of mosquito
prevention and in what direction they need modification,
315. Section 3 of the Act is devoted to definitions, among which the
three following are of importance in relation to the prevention of mosquitoes
and malaria :—
Definition (t)—
" Water work " includes a lake, stream, spring, well, pump, reservoir,
cistern, lank, duct, whether covered or open sluice, mainpipe, culvert,
engine and any machinery, land, building or thing for supplying or used
for supplying water.
Definition (z)—
"Nuisance" includes act, omission, place, or thing which causes or
likely to cause injury, danger, annoyance or offence to the sense of sight,
smelling or hearing, or which is or may be dangerous to life or injurious to
health or property.
Definition (aa)—
" Dangerous disease" means cholera and any endemic, epidemic or
infectious disease by which the life of man is endangered.
316. Under section 61 of the Municipal Act it is incumbent on the
Corporation to make adequate provision for the following matters among
others:—
(a) The construction, maintenance and cleansing of drains and drainage
works, and of public latrines and similar conveniences.
(5) The construction and maintenance of works and means for provid-
ing a supply of water for public and private purposes.