12
water should be provided. At the same meeting Rs. 2,000 were sanctioned for
bringing water from the Ekruk Canal to the well called the Yelleshwar's
Bourie, outside the Peit Balla ves. Although the drawing water from the open
canal at the places nearest to the town, in order to mitigate the great distress
the people are put to, owing to the scarcity of water in the Shideshwar Tank, is
a proceeding, under the circumstances, to be highly commended, yet I must point
out in as forcible a manner as I can that this course would not be safe for a
perennial supply. The canal being open, the water is liable to be fouled, as it
passes in the vicinity of a large town like Sholápur ; for example, I saw persons
washing themselves in it close to one of the roads leading to Hippurgeh, and the
road to the same place from the Tuljipur gate is unbridged, and cattle and men
pass through it ; but even fouled as it is, it is a purer source of supply than the
Sideshwar Tank, which is in every way unfitted for a drinking water-supply,
although the Municipal Commissioners are doing their best to increase its storage
capacity, as they have sanctioned the expenditure of Rs. 2,000 for deepening the
tank and removing the weeds. This will do so far good that it will increase
the purity of the water somewhat, and if the Ekruk water is brought into the
City as proposed, the Sideshwar Tank should be kept constantly filled, as the
large surface of water it would then present would materially tend to keep the
air in its vicinity cool. Arrangements should, however, be made for occasionally
emptying it, so that the weeds might be removed and the mud cleaned. There
is at present a row of washing stones built on the embankment of the tank out-
side the Panee ves. This I do not consider is a safe place as being above a
source of water-supply, and it should be, in my opinion, closed, and a place chosen
on the north of the town, where alone the dhobies should be allowed to wash.
21. There are several wells outside the town from which the people draw
water. For example there is a well called Nagappa Kudwadde's well, which has
a high wall all round it, into which none but Lingayets are allowed to enter ; the
water is said to be good and never to run dry ; and from it men and women are
to be seen carrying their copper vessels filled with water, but carefully covered
over with too often a filthy rag. There is another well close by this which is
used by all castes, and said to yield excellent water. There is also another much-
frequented well situated in the quarry on the east, and close to Jodavibhavis Pet,
nearly opposite Cheerak Ali's Takya. The well is surrounded by a low parapet wall,
and men and women were drawing water all round it ; but on three sides of the
well there is a pool of fetid water about 3 feet deep which has collected from the
washings, because no channel has been made for it to escape by. This should be
provided at once.
22. Kondoba's Tank consists simply of a collection of water in an old
quarry hole on the east, below the Judge's compound. The stone has not been
quarried with any regularity, and immediate arrangements should be made to de-
fine its outline, and then to remove the irregular surface inside of this. This could
easily be done, and might perhaps be undertaken as a famine relief work. The
stone so removed would be useful when drainage works are undertaken, and the
tank should be, when the Ekruk water is supplied, always kept full as a cooling
reservoir. It would prove a useful supply for flushing drains, watering roads, &c.
23. I also inspected the jail and civil hospital which adjoin one another.
The total number of prisoners in the jail on the 9th of September was 1 China-
man, and 147 Native males and 18 Native females. The jail is calculated to contain
112 male prisoners, allowing 648 cubic feet per man. There were, therefore, 38
males in excess of the authorized cubic capacity. There was only one male pri-
soner sick in hospital. The women were not overcrowded, as there is space suf-
ficient for 21 females, and only 18 were present. The latrines, both on the male
and female side of the jail were perfectly clean and free from odour ; the dry-earth
system is adopted here and answers perfectly ; but, in my opinion, the latrine for
females is in much too close proximity to their cook-room, as it is immediately in