6
Before pursuing this subject further, it will be as well to see how much
night-soil is now produced in Dharwar every day. It is usual to assume that
2.5 ozs. of solid fæces and 40 ozs. of urine are passed per head of population, so that
in Dharwar there would be 1.88 tons of solid matter and 30.2 tons of urine
voided per day. It would, however, be safe to assume that these houses to
which privies are attached contain more residents than the general average ; and
if provisions were made for the carriage of the night-soil of, say, 17,000 persons,
there would be rather more than a ton of solid matter and nearly 20 tons of
urine to be removed every day. This is a large amount, and would require, at
least, 6 carts, each of which should make 3 or 4 trips a day.
The best place, in my opinion, would be, if possible, to introduce a
system I saw partially in use at Ahmedabad under the name of Punch privies, or
at Ahmednagar where they are called wadgas, so that each little cluster of
houses, say, according to circumstances, 3 or 4, or better 10 or 12, should select a
spot on which to erect a range of privies, with as many compartments as there
were houses, so that the residents in each house might have the separate use of its
own compartment. If this is done, the work is rendered easier for the bhunghy,
as one man can clear a larger number of privies if they are in line than if he had
to go to each individual house ; and it is better for the health of the community,
as the privy can be so placed that it can be easily cleaned, and proper arrange-
ments made for carrying away the ablution water by the nearest drain. Privacy
would be secured, as the privies would be only for the use of the tenants of the
particular houses for whose use they were erected, and each door could be, as in.
Bombay, fitted with a padlock, so that no one else could use it. The system, too,
is common in Bombay in oarts where there are a large number of houses, and it
has been. found to answer well ; but if this plan does not Meet with the approval of
the inhabitants, then the suggestion made by Mr. Robertson must be carried out,
that each individual house must have its privy. Before this can be done, arrang
ements must be made to provide a proper sweeper's passage, and for the convey-
ence of the ablution water from the rear. On no account should privies be
sanctioned under the roof of the house. They should all be detached, and no
new privy should be allowed to be built which has not a clear space of 3 feet all
round it. A halalcore cess would, of course, be necessary. If the Punch plan is
adopted, about 20 bhungies ought to be sufficient to keep them clean ; but if privies
are erected in each compound, their number must be proportionately increased
but this question may be safely left to local experience. All I do urge is that
each one of the Municipal Commissioners should exert himself to the utmost to
assist Mr. Robertson in his endeavours to improve the town and make it worthy
of its position.
The next point to notice is that no arrangements are made to carry
away the water used in washing. Generally speaking, the inhabitants draw water
from their wells and pour it over their bodies whilst standing on a stone
placed in the compound. All this water soaks into the ground and keeps the
sub-soil wet, the consequence being that the floors of the rooms become damp,
and a fertile source of disease. The remedy is to make a drain to carry off the
water to the nearest road-side drain and to raise the floors.
Before leaving the subject of the houses I must recommend that
they be lime-washed internally at more frequent intervals than at present. Be-
fore the Dewali, and again in the mouth of April, are the best seasons for this
very cleansing operation.
The water-supply of the town is principally derived from 4 public
tanks and from a few wells which contain drinkable water. There are alto-
gether 435 wells in the town, but in only 42 is the water potable. The filthy
habit of storing the night-soil for ages and ages has, in my opinion, rendered the
well water brackish, as those wells in which potable water is found are at a dis-
tance from pit privies, and the water in the wells just outside the town is sweet