Military Department.
Bombay Castle,
No. 1711.
18th April 1877.
Letter from the Sanitary Commissioner, No. F.-151, dated 15th January 1877.
Submits a report of his inspection of the Cantonment of Ahmednagar, with the remarks of
the Cantonment Committee upon certain proposals made by him.
RESOLUTI0N.—The Sanitary Commissioner in describing the married men's
quarters on the right flank to the north of the barracks occupied by the head
quarter wing of the Queen's Royal regiment states, " the plinths of these build-
ings are almost level with the surface of the ground, and the Bhingar aqueduct
passes below the rear one on the north-west, as will be seen by the accompany-
ing tracing. These are errors of original construction which cannot now be
remedied without great expense." Certainly at present, and most probably for
some time to come, funds will not be available to cover the cost of correcting
so manifest an error. The case, however, is worthy of notice if only to prevent
a repetition of it.
2. The Sanitary Commissioner further remarks, with reference to the same
quarters, " In Nos. 1 and 2 blocks the bath rooms are placed in a corner of
the back verandah, and the water runs out on to the ground at the back, and
opposite each quarter is a detached cook-room, immediately in the rear of which
and separated by a passage of only 3' 6" is the privy ; so that all the privy air
passes out of the windows, in its front wall, and must get into the cook-room
through the window, which opens immediately opposite that of the privy."
3. A little ingenuity might, it is believed, have obviated the necessity for
so objectionable an arrangement as that above described. A repetition should
never be permitted. The Sanitary Commissioner is of opinion that the bath-
room should not be under the same roof as the sleeping room. But the objection
to such an arrangement (if the bath-room is suitably built and drained) is not of
such importance. What really does demand some remedial measure is the having
the privy and the cook-room in such juxtaposition as to render it unavoidable
that the air of the former should nags through the latter.
4. The Sanitary Commissioner advocates the adoption of the ridge venti
lator instead of the cowl ventilator in the roof of the barracks. The pierc-
ing of the dead walls on the north end of all the barracks ; the removal of the
external wall of the outside verandahs ; and the providing venetians from the
beam of the eaves to the floor ; the frame work of the venetians to revolve on
its axis ; the windows in the internal walls to be continued down to the floor ;
the clerestory windows to be fixed open for such months as the medical officer
may determine ; the separation of the ablution rooms from the barracks and the
adoption of 3" glazed stone ware pipes for carrying off the water, all appear to
be suggestions deserving immediate attention.
5. Government will await an expression of His Excellency the Commander-
in-Chief's opinion upon the recommendation before issuing any orders.
6. The subjects of paras. 9, 10 and 11 will doubtless receive the early
attention of the Quarter Master General.
7. The proposal to lay on water to the barracks by a system of pipes, so
as to do away with the necessity of entertaining bheesties (para. 12) will be con
- s i d e r e d w h e n t h e c o s t i s r e p o r t e d .
8. All that is stated in para. 15 deserves early attention. The report of
the Quarter Master General will be awaited.
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