'ANNUAL REPORT OF THE ADMINISTRATION OF THE BOMBAY PRESIDENCY, FOR THE YEAR 1908-1909' [‎108r] (77/132)

mines and quarries—manufactures and industries.
cut over Bi length of 4'4 miles ut £t cost of Its. 612.
The operations of the Forest Contour Survey extended over an area of 146 square
481 linear miles, the average daily outturn being 11 miles against 8-8 miles during
The area awaiting Forest Settlement at the commencement of the year was
i mines and quarries—manufactures and industries. 43
jg0 3.ieo9J
q Forests which stood at 585 acres. Under Reserved Forests 22 square miles and
of Pr°^ ec ® jQade over to the Forest Department in the shape of fresh alluvial accretions,
29^0- gq liare miles and 264 acres were swept away by the river.
^ o External boundaries were demarcated to a length of 28 miles and repairs were carried
< length of 1,889 miles. The work was done by free labour in exchange for certain
oU f o Ver a ^ranted by the Forest Department. Internal boundaries consisting of rides 20 feet
pfivildg' 63 » _ ^ o 1cmfrill nf 44 miles a
l ffidth were
3.
^ 63 UIOUS year. xue area awaiuiug x uieou .X..y I .'.. l. t .u I .yLiyy Lin-.yI. yjy yue , ear Was
acres and a farther area of 11 acres was notified under Section 4 of the Indian Forest
vear> making in all 25,306 acres. Out of this total, 11,525 acres were declared
^served Forest under Section 19 of the Indian Forest Act, leaving 13,781 acres still under
going settlement.
A Eighty-three cases were tried by Magistrates of which 64 resulted in conviction and
iq n* acquittal. The percentage of failure was 22*9 against 25*4 in the preceding year.
t l 1 ding cases of illicit grazing the number of offences compounded under Section 67 of the
r p 0 Forest Act was 1,416 and the amount recovered as compensation was Rs. 2,984. In
addition, 14 cases were dismissed with a warning.
5. There were 69 fires against 173 during the previous year, the area traversed by them
being 2,514 acres against 19,804 acres.
6 The inundation being abnormal, nearly all forests received good water and natural
-oduction was very good. Artificial reproduction was carried on with and without the aid of
cereal cultivation and owing to abundance of water the results were almost universally satis
factory An East India Company trading post. . Efforts were also made to extend tali plantation wherever facilities existed. Owing,
however, to erosion, 108 acres of established tali plantations were totally lost.
7. The expenditure on communications was Rs. 1,736; on buildings, Rs. 12,261 ; and on
irrigation, Rs. 22,364.
8. The value of timber and other forest produce granted free was Rs. 4,096 against
Bs. 715 in the previous year. The large increase is due to the extensive damage to dwelling
houses resulting from the abnormal rise of the river and heavy rains.
9. The revenue decreased from Rs. 4,68,039 to Rs. 4,52,117 and expenditure increased
from Rs. 1,72,635 to Rs. 1,90,934.
Chap. IV.
production
AND
DISTRIBUTION.
Boundaries.
Survey and
settlement.
Forest offences.
Forest fires.
Natural and artificial
reproduction.
Communications,
buildings and
irrigation.
Free grants.
Financial results.
5- Mines and Quarries.
The minerals principally exploited are gold and manganese. Gold mining is limited to the
Dharwar District, where the year's working was very unfavourable. The Dharw4r Reefs Company
raised only 7,242-2 ounces of' gold, valued at Rs. 4,07,374. The set-back received has necessitated
strict economy and the mining population nas been reduced. With the exception of the Ranch
Mahals, where the Shivrajpur and Bamankua Mines continued work on an extensive scale,
manganese mining is confined to the Southern Division. Owing to the dulness of the market
little work was done anywhere under the prospecting licenses in force, and the period of many
of these had to be extended. A third mining lease was sanctioned by Government m the
Belgaum District, and sanction has been recommended for another in the Vengurla Thluka ot
the Ratndgiri District where it is expected to open up a new industry. In the latter district
3 prospecting and 2 exploring licenses were issued for graphite copper, the precious metals,
mica, coal and chrome. In Bijapur 2 prospecting licenses were granted for asbestos and 1 for
coal. Eight prospecting and 5 exploring licenses for manganese were issued in the Belgaum,
Bij^pur and Kanara Districts, but" in the last named it is doubtful whether the quality ot ore
will ever repay working. In the Dharwar District there is now no demand for licenses or
mining leases the mining ventures up to date having proved unsuccessfal. Quarrying conti-
nued during the year principally in the Kaira, Surat, Thana, Kolaba and Karachi Disbiicts.
6. Manufactures and Industries.
Few of the 58 cotton spinning and weaving mills in Ahmedabad worked at a profit, and
many were closed or continued on a reduced scale, the stocks proving unsaleable, while cotton
was ouiy procurable at excessive prices. The ease was similar in other districts of the Northern
Bivision. In West Khandesh the factory An East India Company trading post. -owners combined to maintain a uniform rate o
charges, and only a sufficient number of factories to supply local wants were kept °P en >
profits being shared by the members of the combine Thirteen factories thus remained
dming the year. In Nasik 4 out of the 6 ginning factories did no work, and that m batara
Worked for less than a quarter of the year. On the other hand the gins and presses in -bijapur
Dharw4r enjoyed a fairly good season. In Belgaum, the Gokak Water Rower and Manu
facturing Company constructed an important cotton ginning factory An East India Company trading post. at baundatti and another
Was being contemplated at Gokdk. The dairy industry in Ahmedabad has been condemned tor
hs insanitary conditions and shows no improvement. That in Kaira is both extensive and