| s. | |
| The fees on cargo boats, per ton of 50 cubic feet, were | 4 |
| ” passenger boats, 1st class” | 8 |
| ”” 2nd class” | 6 |
These rates were increased from January 1882 to:—
| Cargo boats, per ton of 75 cubic feet | 7 |
| Passenger boats, 1st class ” | 14 |
| ”2nd class ” | 10 |
These fees free boats over the whole system of canals during the calendar year. Unlicensed boats pay 6d. per ton for a single trip. The charge for third-class passengers on boats is one-eighth of a penny per mile.
Between the river Tumbaddra and the river Pennar there is a large canal, which was originally constructed by the Madras Irrigation Company, and, although intended primarily for an irrigation line, was fitted with locks, in order to enable it to be used for navigation. This canal is, however, only available for about eight months of the year, as the water supply in the river has to be passed on for use in the Kistna Delta.
The Ganges and the Brahmapootra are connected with the Hoogly by means of a number of creeks, which are really natural canals, and are connected by two artificial canals: the first called the Circular, or Baliaghatta Canal, and the other Tolly’s Nullah.
The Calcutta Canal route for boats extends eastward for about 115 miles to Khoohia, the capital of the Sunderbunds, and is situated at the junction of the rivers named the Atharabanka and Bhoyrab, respectively. The former is an offshoot of the Madhumatti, down which comes all the produce from the north; the latter carries all that which comes from Backergunge on the eastward. The total number of laden boats registered on the canals in 1874 was 77,096, and the total tonnage of all the cargoes imported into Calcutta by the Sunderbunds route was 521,000 tons.
A large traffic is carried on along the three branches from the Ganges known as the Nuddeah rivers into Calcutta. In the years 1873-74 the total number of boats passing up and down was 32,887 and 27,242, conveying 378,200 and 323,000 tons respectively, of which over two-thirds was down traffic. The first canals met with in the Bengal series, other than the purely navigation lines, are those comprised in the Orissa Scheme. They are divided into three sections. The largest are those constructed in Orissa proper, the navigated portion measuring 162 miles, but when fully completed this system will extend to about 500 miles. There is a canal from Midnapore to Calcutta 70 miles in length, of which 53 miles are artificial, and the remainder follows the course of the Hoogly river. A canal about 30 miles in length has been cut at Hidgedee, in order to enable boats to escape the dangers of the lower reaches of the Hoogly. This canal is to be continued until it enables water communication to be established for the 250 miles that separate Calcutta and Cuttack. The canal varies from 120 to 60 feet, with a minimum depth of 6 feet, while the head locks and those on the main line are 150 feet by 20 feet. This canal cost 6200l. per mile, while the Orissa Canal is stated to have cost 3000l., and the Midnapore Canal 4400l. per mile, attributable specially to navigation. In Bengal there is a system of canals connecting with the river Ganges, which passes through the province of South Behar. There are three principal branches in this system—named the Patna, the Arrah, and the Buxar—their total length being 217 miles. On this system there were 8613 boats in 1882, the aggregate tonnage of which was 88,657 tons. Navigation is carried on in the North-west Provinces and on the Upper and Lower Ganges Canal. The Agra Canal, which leaves the Jumna eight miles below Delhi, has also been adapted for navigation.
In the Presidency of Madras there are upwards of 53,000 tanks, or reservoirs for irrigation purposes alone, exclusive of small tanks near villages, all executed by the natives prior to the occupancy of the Deccan by the British. The aggregate length of the embankment of these reservoirs is fully 30,000 miles; bridges, culverts, sluices, &c., are more than 300,000 in number. The stored-up waters, sent forth at the proper season, still brings to the exchequer of the Madras Presidency a yearly income of a million and a half sterling (one-sixth of the whole revenue), although many of the finest of these reservoirs are in ruins, or useless from want of being properly kept up. One of them, the Ponairy Reservoir, in the district of Trichinopoly, has a superficial area of about 80 square miles, or say 50,000 acres; the banks are 30 miles in extent. Another, the Veranum Reservoir, has nearly 35 square miles of area, or upwards of 20,000 acres, and 10 miles of banks.
An expenditure of a considerable amount has been incurred for nearly half a century by the Government of the Madras Presidency in keeping open the existing narrow waterway through the rocky reef which connects the island of Ramisseram with the mainland of India. Even so, however, the navigation has been extremely unsatisfactory. The tide, when making southwards, heaps up the water at the northern entrance to the channel to such an extent that even full-powered steamers require to employ kedges and warps to surmount and pass it. The Madras Government, therefore, are favourable to a proposed new channel, which will at once relieve them of a serious outlay, provide greater security to navigation, and materially reduce the time now occupied in steaming between Ceylon and their own seaboard.