'REPORT ON THE ADMINISTRATION OF THE BOMBAY PRESIDENCY FOR THE YEAR, 1910-1911' [‎251v] (86/150)

Chap. IV.
PRODUCTION
AND
distribution.
Communications
and buildings.
Irrigation.
Free grants.
Revenue and
expenditure.
5°
BOMBAY ADMINISTRATION REPORT.
8 No roads were constructed during the year underreport. New buildings
i Rc <6^2 and repairs to existing buildings cost Rs. 2,40
L 1910 .
f d at° rcostTrRs 0 and repairs to existing buildings cost Rs.
expenditure thus bculred wt L 8,037 compared with Rs. 7 , I02 m the pr e .
were
con.
total
M05. Th
ilc tuuo . - previous year.
O A sum of Rs. 9,198 was spent on new irrigation works such as excavation of kari is
toA and construction of bunds for the irrigation of forests and for preventing water C
lowing outside forest and flooding cultivated fields^ A sum of Rs - 7.193 was spent on the
dearance of old karids and repairs to existing bunds in forests. The total expenditure wa s
Rs. 16,391 against Rs. 25,759 i n 19 0 9 - 1 9 I °-
,0 The value of timber and other forest produce given free for agricultural purposes and
for constructing dwellings, temples and m the Pilous
y^ear. The fall in apparent value is pardy due to an altered basis ot calculation.
5. Mines and Quarries.
For details see tables under Mineral Production printedun Part I of the Statistics of British India.
Minina- in 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. has hitherto been confined to gold and manganese. The year
was marked by little activity, and although there were indications of progress in a few districts
the general condition of the mining industry is stifi unsatisfactory. In the Panch Mahals
manganese mining received a stimulus from the opening of the Champaner-Shivrajpur light
railway and the operations of the two existing companies die ohivrajpur Syndicate and the
Bamankua Manoanese Company'—were carried out on a more extensive scale than in the
previous year In the Ratnagiri District several prospecting licenses were taken out, and
one mine which has been experimentally opened yielded about 500 tons of manganese ore
durino- the year. On the other hand there was no output from the Belgaum manganese mines;
and in Kanara, where there are 6 mining leases in force, no actual mining was carried out, nor
were any fresh prospecting or exploring licenses granted. Gold mining has hitherto been
confined to the Dharwar District. The gold field of Gadag is reported to be practically shut
down The Dharwar Reefs Gold Mining Company assigned their mines and mining
rio-hts over certain blocks to the Kabulgitti Gold Mining Company during the year. The
latter company is now working the tailings but operations below ground have been suspended.
In the Biiapur District the existing licenses to prospect for gold have lapsed, but one of the
licensees has applied for a mining lease and his application is at present, under consideration.
Two prospecting licenses for galena (lead sulphide) were issued during the year in the
Dharwar District. The most important quarries in 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. are the stone quarries 0
Kolaba, which supply material to the Bombay Port Trust: the quarries of Fuller’s earth and ot
stone and concrete in the Hyderabad District: and the sandstone quarries of Paracm,
which are partly owned and departmentally worked by the. Municipality, the Port Trust and the
Railway and partly let out on annual leases to private individuals.
6. Manufactures and Industries.
The year brought little improvement in the prospects of the cotton spinning and uea ^
industry, the most important manufacturing concern 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. . The expec ai^
of a good season made the prices of raw material somewhat easier in the early par ^
year ; but unseasonable late rains and the severe frost of January and
the cotton crop almost everywhere, and the resulting high prices combine wi ^
competition made it difficult for mill-owners to realize more than nominal pro
total number of spinning and weaving mills registered under the Factory An East India Company trading post. Ac as _ ^
in 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. fell from 165 to 158. Of these 78 were in Bombay an d 54 ^ g ura j.
abad, while Broach and Sholapur registered 5 each. Of 6 factories estab is e
only 2 were able to work. The Sholapur mills took steps to restrict their outpu 0 f
of the year by a mutual agreement limiting the hours of work and increasing 0 more
idle days in the month. The condition of the cotton ginning and pressing mdus r)
satisfactory. The high prices prevailing in the cotton market made the year a P.^ ^ r0II1
one to gin-owners, and there was an increase in the number of registere a . s ^est
282 to 302. East Khandesh easily heads the list of districts with 138 sholap ur
Khandesh is next with 62, Hyderabad registered 30, Dharwar 22, Nasik 10 aI j n _ ovvne rs
and Ahmednagar 7 each. The increase in number is partly due to a tendency °ff> e in this
start their own mills instead of joining in combinations. An event of some sigm ^• on ar nong
connection was the successful formation in the Surat District of a co-operative assoc ^aHighii#
the wealthy cotton growers of the Navsari-Jalalpur tract, with the objec °. eC | by the
their own ginning factories and breaking down the monopoly hitherto en J^ e the 111
gin-owners. A similar tendency to start small factories in the cotton ^ ra< ;^mpetiti 0 . 11
worked by oil-engines, was noticeable in the Dharwar District. The effect 0 ^ j ovver thei r
is said to have been severely felt in Hubli, where gin-owners were compelle