No. 19-24—2759.

QUARTER MASTER GENERAL'S OFFICE,
Poona, 10th July 1877.

FROM

        THE QUARTER MASTER GENERAL,

To

        THE SECRETARY TO GOVERNMENT,

MILITARY DEPARTMENT.

       SIR,

      Referring to Government Resolution, Military Department, No. 1711, dated.
18th April 1877, I have the honor, by direction of His Excellency the Com-
mander-in-Chief, to submit the following report on the defects noticed by the
Sanitary Commissioner in his report on the station of Ahmednagar, and com-
mented in the Resolution above quoted.

Vide page 21 of printed
Copy.

      2. Paras. 2 and 3 of the Resolution have already been reported on by the
Cantonment Committee in their proceedings, dated
12th December 1876 (para. 15), and a plan and
estimate for remedying the defects have been prepared.

      3. It is doubtless very desirable that the improvements referred to in
para. 4 of the Resolution should be carried out; but the Commander-in-Chief
does not consider that they are of such a nature as to demand immediate execu-
tion, until the present restriction on expenditure is removed. The funds now
available are wanted for far more urgent works.

Para. 6 of Government Reso-
lution, and para. 9 of Sanitary
Commissioner's report.

      4. Macnamara filters are now in course of con-
struction, and will shortly be issued to the troops.

      5. A supply of kerosine lamps have been ordered from England, and will
be taken into use so soon as received.

Para. 6 of Resolution, and
para. 11 of Sanitary Commis-
sioner's report.

      6. Existing orders permit the white-washing of barracks and their subsi-
diary buildings twice a year when considered necessary
by the local authorities. The special sanction of
Government will be required to the white-washing of
the cook-rooms once a month as recommended by the Sanitary Commissioner,
and approved by His Excellency the Commander-in-Chief.

      7. The remarks of the Sanitary Commissioner regarding the supply of
water for use in cook-rooms and the disposal of cook-room leavings will be attend-
ed to. The laying down of glazed stoneware pipes for a long distance, as pro-
posed by the Sanitary Commissioner to get rid of the liquid refuse from the
cook-rooms, would be a very doubtful and expensive experiment.

      8. Ration sheds are only allowed in exceptional cases; vide Government
Resolution No. 385-M.W.—2088, 15th December 1875. The requirements at
Ahmednagar in this respect might be met by constructing a light lean-to against
the wall of one of the existing buildings.

Para. 7 of Government Reso-
lution, and para 12 of Sanitary
Commissioner's report.

      9. The distribution of water by pipes throughout the barracks would
involve a large outlay. The probable cost of the
project cannot be stated without preparing proper
plans and estimates, which His Excellency the Com-
mander-in-Chief hesitates to call for in the absence
of Government orders to that effect. The work is, no doubt, a very desirable,
but not an absolutely necessary one.

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