14
At Malapuram the Medical Officer in charge states that the Staff Sergeants'
quarters are damp and their drainage insufficient.
The distribution of the water-supply at Wellington by means of leather buckets
and puckally bags is very objectionable, and it is important that zinc buckets be
substituted for these. The water up to the points of distribution is pure and whole
-some. As this is a sanitarium for invalids and young soldiers, it is recommended
that the water should be laid on to cook-houses and barracks in the usual way.
The sanitary condition of the Coonoor bazaar is very fair, but the Deputy
Surgeon-General represents that it can never be all that is desirable till the water-
supply is piped and a system of drainage carried out. Bearing in mind the fact
that this is the bazaar to which the young soldier has constant access and from
which he obtains various supplies, it is of the first importance that its sanitary
condition should be as good as it is possible to make it.
The drainage of Wellington is favored by the ground conformation. It would
be advisable to have the present masonry drains extended so that their contents
could be carried still further away from barracks. Drainage should also be
extended to the Coonoor bazaar.
Secunderabad District .—The health of the troops in this district has been
fair and shows a decided improvement compared with the previous year. The
sanitation of the barracks and hospitals has been satisfactory.
Secunderabad .—The great radical defect which universally prevails here is
the total absence of artificial surface drainage. There are absolutely no means of
carrying off storm water except by the natural channels, which are formed in due
course by the cutting up of the surface into deep rugged drains rendering the
ground broken and uneven. The surface soil at Secunderabad is composed to a
great extent of disintegrated granite, and it is a well recognised fact that no
structure harbours more closely the poison of malaria and evolves it more readily
in the presence of heat and moisture than a decomposing granite soil.
A thorough system of surface drainage is strongly recommended as a means
of reducing the serious diseases and mortality of this station.
The next, point that calls for remedial measure is the drainage of the low
swampy ground between the two Infantry barracks. Here the ground is low and
unwholesome, and to this cause has been attributed much of the malarial fevers
from which the troops have suffered from time to time. That such, in all human
probability, is the case, the experience of other localities similarly circumstanced
tend to show. With a view to alleviate the noxious effects produced by the wind
blowing over this malarial swamp towards the barracks, the Medical authorities
have, from time to time, recommended that belts of fast-growing trees be planted
between the swampy ground and the barracks. This no doubt would be attended
with very considerable improvement, and indeed the planting of trees over the
whole cantonment of Secunderabad, especially in the neighbourhood of the
European barracks, would add immeasurably to the comfort and appearance of the
cantonment, which at present is singularly bare and, from the perpetual glare,
very distressing to the eyes. The 2nd British Infantry barracks in South
Trimulgherry occupy en echelon, an extended area on an elevated and sloping
piece of ground faultlessly situated were it not so much exposed to the south
-west monsoons. Strong draughts of cold and damp air blowing in upon the men,
especially at night during the monsoon season, are certainly very objectionable and
are well calculated to be the exciting cause of many diseases. It is very important
that steps should be taken to protect the men from these injurious influences. The
roofs of the barracks of the 2nd British Infantry Regiment have been in a leaky
condition for some time and have quite recently been the subject of correspon-
dence. The Medical Officer in charge, South Station Hospital, reports as
follows :—
" T h e r e r o o f i n g w i t h A l l a h a b a d t i l e s o f t h e 2 n d B r i t i s h I n f a n t r y B a r r a c k s , w h i c h w a s
proposed to be done in 1888, did not take place; this is a serious matter as the roofs are in a
very bad state, and during the rains the men suffered much inconvenience and discomfort."