REPORT ON THE SANITARY CONDITION OF THE TOWN OF
BELGAUM.
Inspected in August 1876.
Belgaum, the chief town of the Collectorate of that name and the head--
quarter station of the Collector of the District and of the Zillah Judge, is situated
in latitude 15° 32' N. and longitude 74° 53' 30" E. at an elevation of nearly
2,500 feet above the level of the sea, from which it is distant in a straight line
about 54 miles. It is 48 miles north of Dharwar, 731/2 miles west of Kaládgi,
and 66 miles south of Kolhápur ; whilst Vingorla, its seaport, is 77 miles on the
west, the nearest summit of the line of the Western Gháts being reached by
the new road at the distance of about 30 miles.
2. The town itself lies on the northern slope of the basin of a water-
-course called the Bellary Nullah, an affluent of the Márkándeya River which flows
into the Ghatprabha, one of the numerous tributaries of the Krishna River.
The Kolhápur road crosses the line of water parting of this basin, and that of the
Márkándeya River near the Collector's bungalow on the north-west at a considerable
elevation above the town ; and on the same hill, but farther east, is situated the
double-domed Durga erected by Kishvar Khan, the son of the famous Asad
Khan, which has now been converted into the hospital and guard-room of the
jail, part of the external wall of which is formed by it, and which still bears the
marks of shot fired from the Fort at General Munro's Batteries in March 1818.
Near the jail are the Police lines, from which the ground slopes rapidly down
forming the western boundary of the water-shed of Turkmuttee or one Tree Hill,
below the summit of which a few springs of water are found which, with the rain
falling on the hill, help to fill a large tank, which however dries up during the
hot weather, but which has been formed by an earthen embankment thrown
across the valley near the road to Kaládgi at a distance of about 600 yards from
the town, from which it is separated by the esplanade round the northern walls
of the Fort.
3. The town thus lies between the Fort on the east and the large Military
Cantonment which extends along its western front, and is only separated from
it by the Bhogarvis Nullah, whilst the higher ground above on the north is
occupied by compounds of gentlemen in the civil employ of Government. Toward
the south the country is more open, and in the immediate vicinity of the town
there are cultivated fields in which jowari, sugarcane, &c., are grown ; but they
extend for only a short distance, and beyond, especially towards the southern
side of the Fort, there are rice fields as far as the Bellary Nullah, crossing which
at the distance of about three-quarters of a mile from the town on the Dharwar
road the small township of Sháhpur is reached, which, with its hamlets Hosur
and Hosoti, belongs to the Chief of Sángli, and is therefore foreign territory. The
two towns however on the west approach each other much closer, as the main
gate of Sháhpur is not by the Kapileshwar Tank road much farther than a quarter
of a mile, and along the Khánápur road the western gate is reached at about the
same distance. The above description refers only to the immediate neighbourhood
of Belgaum; but on looking down from Mahalakhsmi's Hill, the highest point in
the adjacent Military Cantonment, Belgaum is seen to be surrounded by ranges of
low hills which however in some places attain a considerable elevation. Among
such may be mentioned Yelloorgarh, about 5 miles to the south-west on the
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