174 Measures in the City of Bombay. [CHAP. VII,
" Where four or more cases had occurred in one house, the place was
vacated and was not reoccupied until the District Medical Officer
was satisfied that it was free from infection. Where the house was
in such an unsatisfactory sanitary condition as to be unfit for human
habitation it was vacated, condemned by a sanitary board and
marked with the letters U. H. H.* Huts for accommodation of
people who were thus turned out of their houses had already been
erected in different quarters of the city by the municipality.
" Thus, not only were plague cases discovered by means of house-
to-house visitation, and the infection of the diseases controlled and
prevented from spreading, but the dark, evil smelling, ill-ventilated,
ill-drained, overcrowded lanes and alleys of Bombay were explored
and thoroughly cleansed. "
Vigorous
measures
instituted by the
municipal
authorities
continued after
the formation of
the Committee.
Statistical
statements for
work done.
GENERAL SANITARY MEASURES.
The vigorous general sanitary measures prosecuted by the
municipal authorities during the early period of the epidemic
were not relaxed after the control of plague operations had been
entrusted to the Committee. In addition to the thorough treatment of
single houses described above, large measures of cleansing and
sanitary reform were continuously executed. At one time as many
as five thousand special workmen were employed on these operations.
The following is a statistical statement of the work done on dwellings
from the beginning of February up to the end of the first week in
April: -
Dwellings condemned
1,762
" recommended for alteration
929
" from which tiles removed (to let in light and air)
10,931
" in which floors dug up
4,370
" limewashed
13,891
" vacated
2,643
" destroyed (by fire or otherwise) ...
416
Treatment of
dwellings
reported to be
insanitary by the
District Medical
Officer of health.
The reports submitted by the District Medical Officers were of
great help in drawing attention to the places requiring cleansing and
disinfection. The following passages describing the working of the
system are from the editions of the Times of India of the 13th March
and the 6th April :-
" The permanent work of improvement has been entrusted to Dr.
Kirtikar? and to Khan Bahadur M. C. Murzban, C.I.E. The special
* Unfit for human habitation.
? Special Health Officer.