NationalLibraryOfScotland/medical-history-of-british-india huggingface dataset:
HALLWAY INSPECTI
Statement showing the work done under the Revised Regulation System published in Government Resolution No. 5772/5864 P., dated 17th October 1898
and contrasting it generally with the Detention Camp System during the Epidemic of 1897-98.
Camp.
Poona ...
Kalyán
Manmad
Anand
Bhusawal
Londa ..
Sátára Road
Sholápur
Bágálkot
Hubli ...
Belgaum
Pálghar...
Broach ...
Dohad ...
...
...
..
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
Totals, 14 Camps ...
REVISEd REGULATION SYSTEM.
Period under report.
1st January 1899 to
2nd June 1899.
14th October 1898 to
2nd June 1899.
1st November 1898 to
2nd June 1899.
14th October 1898 to
2nd June 1899.
1st November 1898 to
2nd June 1899.
18th November 1898 to
2nd June 1899.
1st December 1898 to
2nd June 1899.
14th November 1898to
2nd June 1899.
16th November 1898 to
2nd June 1899.
16th November 1899 to
2nd June 1899.
10th November 1898 to
30th April 1899.
14th October 1898 to
2nd June 1899.
15th January 1899 to
2nd June 1899.
1st February 1899 to
2nd June 1899.
Average of 5 . 7 month
each Camp.
Number of
passengers
detained.
1,067
5,324
7G7
3,065
1,403
386
376
3,674
99
357
994
33
1,692
4
154
19,302
Number
of
plague
cases.
97
181
1
64
η
2
...
1
5
1
4
47
2
5
413
Number
of
plague
deaths.
61
137
1
30
1
1
1
3
36
...
4
275
Number
Disinfected.
114,911
...
2G,679
31,000
9,609
2,991
5.882
11491
310
1,439
204.312
Number
subjected
to Clinical
Thermome-
ter Test.
19,348
49,133
37,632
25,892
51,349
2,234
5,617
5,212
13,168
6,968
4,642
35,152
71
4,637
261,495
Total Cost up
to 31st May 1899.
Rs.
9,472
16.219
13.397
13,894
6,674
1,000
3,437
9,783
4,885
5,724
4,564
12,045
532
1,351
1,02,983
a.
11
7
2
1
10
4
14
7
10
15
1
8
11
4
13
P.
5
0
1
0
10
8
0
9
1
2
3
9
1
10
11
Camp.
Poona
Kalyán ...
Manmad ...
...
Anand (including
Wasad and Mahi
Cordon).
Bhusawal ...
Londa ...
Kudchi ...
Nasik
Gadag
Igatpuri ...
Dharwar ...
Bandra
12 Camps
..
>..
DETENTION CAMP SYSTeM.
Period under report.
19th January 1898 to
26th June 1898.
4 months
28th December 1897 to
18th May 1898.
24th November 1887
to 30th May 1898.
5 months ...
5 months
7 months
10th February 1898
to 21st May 1898.
19th November 1897
to 15th June 1898.
15th February 1S98
to 19th May 1898.
15th November 1897
to 15th June 1898.
13th January 1898
to 21st May 1S98.
Average of 5.14 months
each Camp.
Number 0
passenger
detained.
13,670
17,653
12,968
59,726
3,494
4,534
3,445
1,276
2,509
2,824
3,185
5,790
131.074
Number
of
plague
cases.
23
63
10
„79
1
...
1
6
4
14
201
Number
of
plague
deaths
13
41
7
53
1
...
...
...
5
4
12
136
r
Total Cost.
Es.
31,205
21,189
30,917
50,225
5,444
4,000
a.
10
3
0
12
5
0
P·
4
6
0
5
4
0
(approximately)
5,774
746
2,076
1,850
8,682
£3,000
11
6
11
1
6
0
7
9
5
11
8
0
(approximately)
1.85,122 5 11
CHAPTER ΥΠ.
THE NORTHERN DIVISION.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
AHMEDABAD
BROACH
KAIRA ...
...
...
...
PANCH MAHALS
SUR AT...
THANA ...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
..
......
...
PAGES
151 and 152
153 to 158
159 to 169
171 to 174
175 to 184
185 to 194
88
151
AHMEDABAD DISTRICT.
Area ...
Population in 1891
Density of population
Rainfall
...
3,819 sq. miles.
921,712.
241 per sq· mile.
3213 inches.
Boundaries.
The Ahmedabad District is the most northerly District in the Presidency. It is bounded
roughly as follows :—on the north by Deghám and Kadi (Baroda) ;
on the east by the Gulf of Cambay ; on the south by Bhávnagar ;
on the west by Kathiáwár.
Climate and natural
features.
During January and February a north-east wind blows which imparts a sensation of
severe cold : from March a west wind, which becomes hot in the day-
time, continues until the rains set in towards the end of June. The
rains last through July, August and September. October is close and feverish ; and the cold
weather sets in about the middle of November.
Towards the west the soil is black, towards the east, light. The District is well watered,
and owing to the ill-defined channels of many of the rivers and the low level of the land on
the lower part of the Sabarmati, large portions of it are periodically flooded.
Previous epidemics.
Plague appears to have visited Ahmedabad District on several occasions ; and with
great severity. The first outbreak of which there is any authentic
record occurred in 1618. This epidemic began in the Punjab in 1611, and no place in
Hindustan was free from its ravages, which lasted, with intervals, for eight years.
Between 1683 and 1689 plague was again in Ahmedabad and remained for seven
or eight years.
In 1770, a year of great famine, thousands of people died of fever in two or three days,
so that none could be found to bury them.
But it was in 1812-13 that Ahmedabad suffered most severely. 1812 was also a year
of famine, and plague appeared first in Cutch. Shortly after its appearance in Cutch
" a contagion raged at Ahmedabad with a fury that can scarcely be believed" ; and half
the population, about 50,000 persons, are said to have perished. This epidemic also lasted
some eight years. *
With such a record the practical immunity of Ahmedabad is one of the most remarkable
features of the outbreak which has now continued since September 1896.
A large number of imported cases occurred in this District from the beginning of
October 1896 to the middle of June 1897, with a small number of indigenous cases.
Plague in the Ahmedabad
District, 1896-99.
Indigenous cases were discovered during the week ending 9th October 1896, at
Ahmedabad, but from that date the District was free from indi-
genous plague until the 19th February 1897. During that week
a few such cases occurred at Ahmedabad, but the incipient outbreak was met with such
promptness .and energy that it was apparently at once subdued.
The Collector describes the steps taken—
"There have been eight indigenous plague cases in Ahmedabad. All the cases occurred
in a square in the Railway suburb ; all the inhabitants were turned out as soon as the cases
* Bombay Gazetteer, Vol. IV.
152
[CHAP. VII.
were discovered; the sick taken to the isolation, hospital, the healthy to a camp selected for
the purpose, where huts were erected. The rooms in the square were all unroofed, disin-
fected, and whitewashed and fumigated ; being built of brick it was not possible to burn
them down. "
Some 15 more cases occurred up to 7th May 1897, after which indigenous plague
ceased.
Some of the indigenous cases occurred among persons who were segregated when
the outbreak occurred, and who were apparently healthy when segregated. Had it not
therefore been for the prompt action taken, it is possible that plague would have spread into
the City.
As regards preventive measures, from the autumn of 1896 to the autumn of 1897,
the most important measure was the medical inspection at the Ahmedabad Railway Station.
After that, till the autumn of 1898, the district was also protected by, inter alia,—
(1) The pass system, under which persons from infected areas could not go freely
into non-infected areas by rail ;
(2) Observation Camps at Anand and Ahmedabad ; and
(3) Arrangements made to prevent persons from infected villages south of the
Mahi River crossing the river to the uninfected areas on the north.
The observation camp at Ahmedabad still exists in a modified form, but the main
reliance (besides medical inspection) is on the system for the surveillance of persons coming
from infected areas.
The following table gives the total number of cases, month by month, throughout the
District, from 3rd October 1896 to 30th September 1897, imported and indigenous plague
being separately shown :—
Months.
October 1896
November „
December ,,
January 1897
February „
March
,,
April
,,
May
,,
June
,,
July
„
August
,,
September ,,
Total ...
IMPORTED.
Cases.
10
21
39
11
15
7
5
3
2
113
Deaths.
3
...
13
27
6
14
G
3
3
...
2
...
77
INDIGENOUS.
Cases.
2
...
...
...
11
9
4
2
...
...
...
...
28
Deaths.
2
...
...
... · 4
7
4
1
...
...
...
...
18
Total
Cases.
12
21
39
22
24
11
7
3
2
...
141
Deaths.
5
13
27
10
21
10
4
3
2
...
95
A few imported cases occurred at intervals throughout the following year, but from
the 9th September 1898 to the 3rd of March 1899 neither imported nor indigenous plague
was reported. A few isolated cases (12 cases—8 deaths in all) occurred during March, and
April 1899, but came to nothing. At the present time (September 1899) the Ahmedabad
District continues free from plague.
BROACH DISTRICT.]
155
parties were instituted and disinfection of infected houses carried out. Nor was the sanita-
tion of the Town forgotten ; gangs of sweepers were appointed, under an Abkári Inspector,
to clean up, remove dirt, etc.
The "season was very unfavourable to evacuation ; nevertheless, efforts were made in
this direction. Three Health Camps were opened—one in a School-building, and the other
two in ginning factories, which were kindly placed at the disposal of the Municipality by
Messrs. Jamsetji N. Grinwaia and Prágdás Dádábhái. The people were at first unwilling to
leave their houses in the monsoon, but were gradually prevailed upon, by tact and persuasion,
to occupy the Health Camps, and later to build their own huts. By the end of July those
localities where the infection was worst had been vacated. But the plague showing no signs
of abatement, it was resolved to push on complete evacuation, and by the 24th August the
whole of the town lay empty, the people having removed either to the Health Camps or into
huts erected by themselves round the town. Three weeks later the epidemic was brought
under control.
Shortly after evacuation, the area occupied by the evicts was divided into 5 circles,
each in charge of a Superintendent, who was provided with a small establishment. A muster
of the people in each circle was called every morning : and the removal of corpses, without a
proper certificate of the cause of death, being prohibited, the stealthy disposal of the dead
became impossible.
It has been noticed above that plague was brought under control in September 1898.
Thenceforth there was a steady subsidence, though the epidemic lingered on till the end of
October. The following are the figures for the epidemic, month by mouth :—
Month.
(Date of first case, 13th July 1898.)
July
August
September
October
November
1898,
,,
,,
,,
,,
3
4
5
4
1
weeks
,,
,,
,,
week
...
...
(Date of last case, 3rd November 1898.)
Total ...
Cases.
1!)
162
134
5
2
322
Deaths.
10
112
105
9
2
238
The highest number of cases reported on any one day was 12 on the 10th August ;
and in any one week, 61 (week ending 12th August 1898).
ANKLESWAR TOWN
Population. 10,692
158
[CHAP. VII.
BROACH TOWN
Population 40.737.
Plague in
Broach District.
Jan.—Sept. 99.
The minor towns and villages were worst affected in March and April 1899 ; but
there were not many of them. Immediate evacuation was possible,
and no single place—except perhaps Tankária (pop. 3,064), which
remained infected for about two months and a half, and returned 85 cases—contributed
high figures or was long under infection.
At the time of writing (November 1899) plague in Broach District is slight ; some 20
cases in all being returned weekly ; the total figures for the year 1899, month by month,
being as follows :—
Month.
January
1899
February
March
April
May
June
July
August
September
October
November
,,
,,
,,
,,
,,
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
TOTAL
...
...
...
..
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
Cases.
166
244
274
106
42
...
78
134
131
19
1
1,195
Deaths.
139
196
198
78
28
1
46
98
88
20
892
159
KAIRA DISTRICT.
Area...
Population in 1891
Density of population
Rainfall
... ... ...
1,596 sq. miles.
871,589.
546-11 per sq. mile.
About 29 inches.
Boundaries.
Separated from the head of the Gulf of Cambay by a narrow strip of territory,
the District of Kaira, with a breadth varying from about
twenty-five to forty miles, stretches towards the north-east for
more than sixty miles along the right bank of the river Mahi. It is bounded on the north by
Main Kántha and Ahmedabad; on the east, by the Panch Maháls ; on the south and south-
east, by Broach and the Gaekwar's territory ; and on the west, by Cambay and Ahmedabad.
Climate and natural features.
From November to March the air is pleasant and bracing. But even this lengthy season
of cool weather fails to make up for the severe heat of the
rest of the year, dry and parching in March, April, and May,
moist and oppressive from June to October.
Except a small corner of hilly ground near its northern boundary, and in the south-east
and south, where along the Mahi the surface is roughened and furrowed into deep ravines,
the District of Kaira is one unbroken plain, sloping gently towards the south-west. The
soils of the District are of four chief kinds, light, medium, black, and alluvial. The light
is the prevailing soil, varying in quality from the loose grained yellow sand of the fields
near the Sábarmati and the Mahi to a rich light-brown mould, common in the central sub-
divisions, and found to perfection in the south-west corner of Matar. The District has two
chief rivers : the Mahi, for nearly 100 miles its boundary to the east and south, and on the
north-west the Sabarmati touching the District only for a few miles, but of great importance.
Into it, along the channels of the Shedhi and Vátrak, the whole local drainage flows.
Previous epidemics.
There is no previous history of plague in Kaira, cholera having been, so
for as is known, the only great source of epidemic
disease there.
Kaira District.
Population—871,589.
The Kaira District escaped all outbreak of indigenous plague up to the end of Septem-
ber 1898 : although a large number of imported cases occurred
prior to that date. The first of these imported cases occurred in
December 1896. From that time to the end of May 1897, 18
more such cases (14 fatal) were reported. From May 1897 to May 1898, 76 more cases
(57 fatal) were imported : from May 1898 to the end of September 1898 a further addition
of 10 imported cases (6 fatal) took place :—
For period ending
31st December 1896
31st May 1897
31st May 1898
...
...
30th September 1898
...
...
...
...
Total
...
...
...
...
Cases.
1
18
76
10
105
Deaths.
1
14
57
6
78
Remarks.
All imported.
* Bombay Gazetteer, Vol. III.
168
[CHAP. VII.
Kasulpur-Thásra, where only 2 cases occurred, and Ekalvelu which had 3 cases and 3 deaths.
This measure was, however, not pressed, if the people showed any unwillingness or where
the villages could be continuously watched. "
The attitude of the people was all that could be expected in such trying times ; and
any opposition was overcome by persuasion. The following incident is related in this
connection : —
"There was some discontent at first at Umreth regarding evacuation, but it was
overcome by Mr. Modi's tact, sympathy and winning manners. In this connection I may
mention an incident which is perhaps unique in the annals of plague. Advantage was
taken of the practice of singing ' Garbas ' on the night of the Manekthali Poonem (the last
full moon of the Hindu year) to hold a mass gathering of the people of Umreth. A local poet,
Bholanath Kadak, led the singing with a song relating to the plague measures of Govern-
ment, in which the object of each was pithily explained and the townspeople were exhorted
to place confidence in the Sarkár. The assembled multitudes repeated each line as the
poet led, so that at the conclusion the people had pledged themselves to approve all that
they had sung about. Mr. Modi then in a long speech explained the whole situation and
methods. Thus in a single evening the people's prejudices were conquered. After that
everything went on smoothly at Umreth, and what dissatisfaction remained was removed
by my concessions in the matter of disinfection and limewashing."
The cost of plague operations is shown by the following figures which refer to infected
Municipal Towns :—
Town.
Umreth
Kapadvanj
Dakor
Ode
Anand
...
...
...
..
...
...
...
...
Population.
15,638
14,805
9,487
9,385
9,214
Plague
Expenditure.
Rs.
5,740
3,701
3,449
1,775
1,543
Excluding the Ánand Camp, which continued to be maintained by Government, the entire
cost of plague measures in the District was defrayed by the Local Boards and Municipalities
concerned, except the pay, etc., of the Special Plague Officer. The Municipalities of Umreth,
Ode and Dakor were helped with a grant-in-aid of Es. 10,000 by the District Local Board.
The Dakor Municipality alone required an advance of Rs. 8,000 from Government, a large
portion of which had been spent on preventive measures before the actual outbreak.
Looking now at the District as a whole, the two most striking points of the Kair
epidemic are, (1) the large number of villages infected, (2) the small mortality from plague.
Evacuation was the measure enforced throughout ; to it doubtless the small mortality is due.
Each village, as it became infected, was at once evacuted, and the disease was checked in
that village, but only to break out in fresh villages. This will be seen from the following
table :—
Duration of Epidemic.
From the 1st of October 1898
to
the 31st of May 1899.
Total number of villages infected
from first to last.
80
Largest number of villages simul-
taneously reporting indigenous plague.
31
(week ending 10th March 1899).
KAIRA DISTRICT.]
169
The plague cases and deaths for the whole of the Kaira District (inclusive of every town)
throughout the epidemic are given, month by month, below :—
Month.
October 1898—4 weeks
November ,, — 4
December „ — 5
January 1899—4
February „ — 4
March
„ — 5
April
„ — 4
May
„ —4
„
„
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
Total
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
Add — Imported plague in 1897 and
1898
...
··
...
Grand Total...
Cases.
21
95
335
283
361
474
215
93
1,877
105
1,892
Deaths.
21
55
282
231
284
361
1G3
82
1,479
78
1,557
43
PANCH MAHALS.]
173
proved on examination tobe plague, and a search being made, two more cases were discovered
close to the infected house. Altogether 8 cases and 6 deaths took place in Godhra during
the week ending the 25th November 1898.
A special report was made by the Collector detailing the measures and the course
of the epidemic in Godhra with reference to the efficacy of evacuation. This report was
published in Government Resolution No. 2050-P., dated the 22nd March 1899. Complete
evacuation was tried with a high degree of success: the following being the numbers of
cases and deaths weekly:—
Week ending
25th November
1898
2nd December "
9th " "
16th
"
"
23rd " "
30th
"
"
6th January
1899
13th " "
20th " "
27th
"
"
3rd February "
10th
"
"
17th
"
"
24th
"
"
3rd March
"
10th
"
"
Total
Cases.
8
3
10
27
18
28
41
45
59
107
106
125
137
28
13
755
Deaths.
6
2
5
22
10
19
26
29
50
64
79
108
78
22
11
3
534
Total mortality.
176
223
164
95
34
21
9
722
(compared with 365
plague deaths for
the same period).
reMARKS.
'Partial
voluntary
evacuation' only.
Complete
evacuation
rapidly
proceeding.
Evacuation complete from
6th
February 1899.
GODHRA TOWN
Population 4,691
44
174
[CHAP. VIL
That concealment was practised to an abnormal extent during this epidemic is plain from a
comparison of the " total '' with the " plague " mortality for that period.
The Panch Mahals
District.
As regards the rest of the District, it has been noticed above that until plague
established itself in Godhra Town, the only place infected was Kálol
Town. With the increase of plague in Godhra, and the flight of the
people, it gradually spread to other parts of the District, though
the infection did not at any time assume a very severe form. Hálol Town (pop. 2,84 . 5) was
stricken early in December, but the people rapidly vacated it, and but few cases were
returned. The largest number of weekly cases returned up to the end of January 1899 was
22 in the week ending 27th January: but one newly infected village, Jantral (pop. 1,686),
in the Kálol Táluka, was alone responsible for 18 of them. Here, too, prompt evacuation
put an end to the epidemic.
Towards the middle of February 1899, when the epidemic was at its worst in Godhra,
it was correspondingly bad in the villages: no fewer than 16 places returned indigenous cases,
and in the week ending 24th February the largest number reported in a single week was
reached, with 67 cases—40 deaths. Everywhere immediate evacuation was ordered, and it
was invariably attended with success. At the beginning of April, plague disappeared from
the District, and, except for a few sporadic cases in Dohad (pop. 10,947) towards the end of
May 1899- due to infection caught while cleaning evacuated houses—the Panch Mahals
District has continued free from plague.
The following table shows the monthly attacks and deaths in the Panch Mahals
District, exclusive of Godhra, from the beginning of the epidemic :—
Month
October
1898
November ,,
December ,,
January 1899
February ,,
March ,,
April ,,
May ,,
June ,,
July ,,
August ,,
...
...
...
...
...
Total
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
Cases.
36
18
6 G
44
129
133
1
6
....
...
...
434
Death«.
21
19
49
32
84
96
.....
3
...
....
305
175
SURAT DISTRICT.
Area...
Population in 1891
Density of population
Rainfall ..
...
...
...
1,653 sq. miles
649,989.
393 . 22 per sq. mile.
46 inches.
Boundaries.
Situated on the shore of the Arabian Sea, where its waters begin to narrow into the
Gulf of Cambay, the District of Surat stretches for about SO
miles from the Damangauga river northwards to the Kim. It
is bounded roughly as follows :—On the north by the District of Broach and the Baroda
State ; on the east by the Gaekwar's territory and the Dharampor State ; on the south by
the Thána District and Daman ; and on the west by the Arabian Sea.
Climate and natural features.
The District forms an alluvial plain stretching from north to south for about eighty
miles, with a gradual fall sloping from the high lands in
the east of the District westwards to the shores of the Arabian
Sea. As regards climate, the District of Surat consists of two parts—one, of equable tem-
perature, under the influence of the sea-breeze ; the other, beyond this influence, subject to
changes in heat and cold almost as great as in the more northerly parts of the Presidency.
Except in the neighbourhood of rivers, which, acting as channels, carry the sea-breeze further
inland, its influence does not, as a general rule, extend for more than from eight to ten
miles from the coast. Another peculiarity which helps to make the coast Districts more
healthy than the inland parts, is their much lighter rainfall. Of the inland parts, in the
opinion of the people of the District, Párdí in the south and Mándvi in the north-east are the
most unhealthy.
The soils of the District, all more or less alluvial in character, belong to three chief
classes—the black ; the light soil ; and the besar, a soil uniting the characteristics of the
black and light varieties. The country is abundantly supplied with ponds, wells, and
springs of water.
In the Dang forests, by far the most unhealthy locality, remittent fever of a very
severe and fatal type prevails up to the end of the month of March or April.
Previous epidemics.
The first outbreak of plague in Surat was in 1684, and for six years it raged without
interruption. But though during this time the city was never
entirely free from the disease, at different seasons of the year
the attacks varied in intensity. Lulling during the rainy months (June to September), the
epidemic broke out with fresh fierceness in October, and again abating during the greater
part of the cold and hot seasons raged with renewed fury towards the end of May. The
death-rate at times " on a very modest calculation" amounted to 300 a day.*
Bulsár.
Population—Town, 14,472.
Táluka, 73,417.
First Epidemic (December 1896—June 1897).—The first epidemic in this District was a
very mild one. although the town of Bulsár, where the disease
first appeared, suffered somewhat severely. Magod (pop.
2,063) also suffered severely, reporting 281 cases—215 deaths.
Surat City and Bander Town were also slightly affected. The figures for this epidemic
for the whole District were 2,049 cases—1,590 deaths. The epidemic lasted about six
mouths : beginning in December 1896 and subsiding in June 1897.
* Bombay Gazetteer, Vol. II.