'REPORT ON THE ADMINISTRATION OF THE BOMBAY PRESIDENCY, FOR THE YEAR 1914-1915' [‎191r] (51/150)

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ex officio members frequently prevented eminently qualified persons from being appointed to
the trust. The name of the Port Surgeon was removed from the list of ex officio trustees and
provision was made enabling Government to appoint him if they think it desirable to do so.
The Act also provides for a better system of depositing moneys at the credit of the Board.
Act No. V of 1914 conferred on Subordinate Judges power to try and dispose of suits to
which an officer of Government, either as a Court of Wards or as a delegate or manager or
guardian appointed by the Court of Wards, is a party. Previously these suits could be tried
by the District Court only. The Act thus removed a hardship to parties other than the Court
of Wards, who were obliged to go to the headquarters of the district over long distances for
matters which could be disposed of with perfect propriety by Subordinate Judges.
The main object of Act No. VI of 1914 was to increase the number of trustees on the
Board of the Port Trust; because it was considered that the presence on the Board of a
military officer, intimately acquainted with the defences of the port and competent
to explain the military requirements and other arrangements nece-sary in time of war, would
add greatly to the efficiency of the war regulations for the entry of vessels into the port and
the harmony with which they are worked. With the institution of a sinking fund under the
provisions of Bombay Act III of 1913, section 31 of the Act of 1879 was found to be
superfluous and was therefore repealed.
Act No. VII of 1914 effected two amendments in the Chapter of the Bombay Land
Revenue Code, dealing with superior and inferior holders. The first amendment allowed an
annual tenancy to be terminated without notice where there was repudiation of the landlord's
title. The object of the other amendment was to secure for tenants and other inferior
holders a share in the concessions granted by Government under the rules for the suspension
and remission of land revenue. The chief difficulty experienced in carrying out the policy of
liberal suspensions and remissions was that, though Government might grant a remission or
suspension to the superior holder, the latter could recover the whole of the rent or land
revenue at once from the inferior holders. The new section 84A remedied this defect.
Act No. VIII of 1914 was passed with the object of effecting a number of changes in
the Bombay District Municipal Act, 1901, which were found in the course of the working of
the Act to be necessary. The chief of these was to provide for the appointment, in munici
palities having a population of not less than one hundred thousand, of a Chief Execu
tive Officer to be called a Municipal Commissioner who is to exercise powers similar to those
exercised by the Municipal Commissioner of Bombay. The appointment was considered
desirable owing to the growing volume and complexity of municipal administration in the
largest towns of the Presidency The name given to each of the three divisions of the territory of the East India Company, and later the British Raj, on the Indian subcontinent. , to which the ordinary system of administration by
committees, as also the special provisions of Chapter XIII of the Act of 1901 relating to the
appointment of a Chief Officer, had proved to be unsuitable. The Act also made certain
changes in minor details ; e. g., provision is now made that candidates who wish to serve as
Councillors should not merely be tax-payers thereof, but should be resident in or close to
municipalities where they wish to serve.
The principal object in passing Act No. I of 1915 was the regulation of the development
of certain areas with a view to securing proper sanitary conditions, amenity and convenience
to the persons living in such areas and in neighbouring areas. It extends in the first
instance to the Island of Salsette but can be extended in whole or in part to other places.
The general objects of the Act are—
(I) to encourage the development of Salsette as a residential suburban area —
(«) by arranging for the construction of roads, bridges and other works, and
(A) by the creation of building sites of suitable size and shape ;
(II) to ensure generally that areas converted into building land shall be developed in
such a way as to secure proper sanitary conditions, amenity and convenience ;
(III) to assist municipal funds by enforcing contributions towards the cost of construct
ing roads and other works from the holders of land who benefit thereby ;
(IV) to obviate the heavy expense of carrying out public works after development has
taken place, by ai ticipating the future needs of the community ;
(V) to subject development to aesthetic considerations ; public control of architectuial
details of buildings and of the scheme of streets and creation of harmony between buildings
located on adjacent sites will now prevent the ugliness incidental to modern urban
development.
The Act follows the Housing, Town Planning, etc., Act, 1909 (9 Edw. 7, c. 44 )•
Nine Bills were introduced into the Legislative Council during the year beginning 1st
April 1914.
PROTECTION.
These were :—
(1) Bill No. Ill of 1914 (A Bill further to amend the Aden Port Trust Act, 1888).
(2) Bill No. IV of 1914 (A Bill further to amend the Bombay Civil Courts
Act, 1869).
(3) Bill No. V of 1914 (A Bill further to amend the Bombay Port Trust Act, 1879).