5
and Jamalpur Divisions are shown to be not nearly so thickly populated as
Dariapur and Kharuya
Persons to an
Acre.
Mean Average
for each person
in square
y a d r s
1. In Sháhpur
...
...
...
...
46 . 96
103.15
2.
„ Jamalpur
...
...
...
...
68 . 24
.71.12
3. „ Duriapur
...
...
11477
42.20
4. „ Kharuya,
..•
....
...
...
141 . 38
34.37
14. The population consisted of-
80,895 Hindus, who formed 69 . 21 per cent. of the entire population.
23,491 Mussulmans „
2010
,,
11,724 Buddhists ,, 10.03
,,
,,
264 Christians
,,
0.23
,,
499 Others
0'43
105,195 persons resided in 31,405 houses of the better class, whilst 3,879 houses
of the inferior sort contained 11,678 inhabitants. There were, therefore, on
an average, 3.35 persons to each of the better kind of houses, and 3.01 residents
in each house of inferior description. From the above statement it appears that
there are in Ahmedabad altogether 35,284 houses, which is more than in Bombay,
where there were only 31,447 houses, each containing, however, on the average
20.49 persons.
15. In 3,825 houses there are privies, which, in a large number of instances,
have been placed in a corner of the verandah on the ground floor of the house,
and facing the street from which they are cleaned. There are also 2,572 panch-
privies, situated in the various poles ; and the Municipality has, in addition to
providing a field about half a mile to the north of the city for the accommoda-
tion of miles, erected 17 public necessaries for men and 18 for women. Of these,
5 reserved for women and 4 for men have been built near the gates outside the
walls. In the hamlet of Saraspur there are but few privies, as the inhabitants
resort to the fields for the performance of the offices of nature.
16. A halalcore cess has been imposed in the city, and 450 halalcores are
employed in cleaning the house and panch-privies, and 59 work at the public
necessaries. These persons collect wood-ashes from the houses in the town, and.
apply them through a small trap door opening on to the street, to the nightsoil,
which falls down on to a chunamed platform placed below the privy seat. No
basket or receptacle for the nightsoil to fall into is ever used in Ahmedabad.
The ablution-water and urine flow from this platform, first of all into a koondee,
where any solid matter is partly retained, and thence into a khalkoowa, which is
a circular pit or well 3 feet in diameter, dug in the ground under or at the side
of the house, for a depth of about 20 to 25 feet. This varies in different parts of
the city, but, usually, about 4 or 5 feet are left between the bottom of the
k h a l - k o o w a a n d t h e w a t e r - b e a r i n g s t r a t u m , w h i c h i s g e n e r a l l y f o u n d a b o u t3
0 f e e t
below the surface. The sides of the pit are built up with circular bricks, 3 " broad
by 3" thick, and at about 2 to 5 feet below the level of the surface of the ground.
The well is arched over with brick and lime masonry. Earthen pipes are inserted
into one side of the arch, and a koondee is built on the top, which acts as a catch-
pit, through which the urine and ablution-water and the water fouled in domes-
tic use find their way to the pit. Before the rainy season sets in, and generally, I
am informed, in the middle of June, the opening into the khalkoowas is bricked up,
because, if they become full of water the foundations of the houses not unfre-
quently give way, and it falls. During the monsoon the urine and ablution-water
B 221-2 c