MUNICIPAL
DEPARTMENT.
SANITATION.
DARJEELING, THE 8TH JUNE 1904.
RESOLUTION—No. 1143T.—M.
READ—
The Report of the Sanitary Commissioner, Bengal, for the year 1903.
Read also—
The Annual Statistical Returns and Short Notes on Vaccination in Bengal for the
year 1903-1904.
The Sanitary Commissioner's Report for 1903 deals for the most part
with figures only, his remarks under the several headings consisting mainly
of comparisons between the statistics of the year under review with those of
the preceding year, and to speculations regarding the causes for these varia-
tions. Information as to local conditions, the special causes and prevalence of
disease, and the progress of sanitation during the year, is somewhat scanty.
Major Clarkson has not even given any definite information regarding his
Municipal inspections. He has been requested to furnish this information for
the year 1903 in a separate report which will be reviewed in the resolution on
the working of Municipalities for the year 1903-1904, and to incorporate
similar information in future annual reports.
2. There was a decrease in the number of births registered from 2,987,800
in 1902 to 2,903,191 in 1903, and the ratio per mille fell from 40.14 to
39.00. This reduction is attributed by the Sanitary Commissioner to the
general unhealthiness of the former year. Though the statistics for all
districts do not manifestly support this explanation, it may be accepted without
cavil.
3. The total mortality showed a slight diminution from 2,488,428 deaths
in 1902 to 2,481,149 in 1903 in spite of an increase in deaths from plague and
cholera by over 85,000. The year being a comparatively dry one, there was
a decrease of 67,000 in deaths from fever. The statistics furnished regarding
the deaths in towns are interesting, and will be dealt with in the Resolution on
Municipal Administration.
4. The Sanitary Commissioner is undoubtedly correct in holding that
deaths from respiratory diseases are underestimated. Tuberculosis is shown by
the jail returns and the common experience of hospitals to be far more
prevalent than is supposed; and efforts are being made to educate the
people as to the danger of infection. Pamphlets are distributed to patients
in hospitals, and the attention of local officers has been drawn to the
necessity of enforcing such provisions of the Municipal Act as tend to afford
protection from the disease. At the instance of the Inspector-General of
Civil Hospitals the Director of Public Instruction, Bengal, has also instituted
short courses of lectures on the subject in all colleges and their attached
schools. In all hospitals tuberculosis is now dealt with as an infectious disease,
and patients suffering from it are isolated as much as possible—a measure the
excellent effects of which are already apparent in jails.
5. It is satisfactory to observe that there is a reduction in the rate of infant
mortality which is considerably greater than the reduction in the rate of total
mortality in the Province. An interesting enquiry into the causes of death
in 2,067 cases of children under six months old was made by Assistant Surgeon
Hari Mohan Sen whilst in charge of the Jessore district, and the results
probably give a fairly accurate picture of what the facts are. The causes
assigned by him were malpraxis (37.40 per cent. ), malnutrition (37.34 per cent.),
mismanagement of labour and diseased parentage (18.14 per cent.), insanitation