Assessment of irrigated lands. 61 The expenditure has been for the last eleven years nearly as That the portion of the revenue of the Province devoted to the public works of the Province has been 3.25 per cent.; that of this 2-00 per cent. have been devoted to works of communication, 0.82 per cent. to bhundarras, and 0·45 per cent. to buildings. In considering the capabilities of repaired water-courses, as a criterion to show the utility of the outlay sanctioned by Government, we are doubtful whether any sufficiently determinate data, beyond the amount of revenue levied, have been collected. It would appear that since the fixed rates have been established, an over-production of sugar-cane has been in operation, and also of rice. Both these crops must have been forced beyond measure, as the prices of each have fallen more steadily, and to a greater extent than ever was known to the Natives before. The following is a detailed statement showing the increase of sugar-cane cultivated over a period of five years, since the rates have been fixed, in comparison with the five years previous, during which Perawur rates were in existence. A total increase has taken place of 718 beegas, or about 143 annually. At the same time the cultivation of inferior crops has been diminished. If, where water-courses have been repaired, there has been a supply of water equal to the increased demand, and yet no increase of revenue, the cause must be sought for elsewhere than in the Engineer Department. Since the assessment on sugar and rice crops has been reduced, and since the former consumed most water at the season of greatest scarcity, the utility of the work done must not be estimated by the amount of revenue realised, but respect must be had to the further loss which must have ensued if such a quantity of water had not been secured in the hot weather. It must be borne in mind that formerly the rates on sugar-cane averaged more than thirty rupees a beega,* and that now they are on an average about nine and a half or ten. Rice yielded fifteen or more. Wheat had two or three rates, according to the number of times it was sown in the rotation, and on this crop alone is the assessment heightened. If, then, we suppose that for the burden removed from the rice crop an equivalent has been placed upon the wheat--which would be nearly correct according to the fixed rates-and that the cultivators' additional profit is gained from the sugar crop, the repairs must cause such an increase of sugar cultivation as will sustain the revenue after the great reductions above mentioned have been made; that is, the proportion of advantage to be derived from the labours of the Engineers must be as thirty to ten. A most important point in connection with the introduction of the fixed rates has been before alluded to, viz. that there is a fixed limit to the quantity of water which every bhundarra and watercourse can supply for the cultivation of sugar-cane. If we suppose that this limit is fifty beegas, then the capabilities of the watercourse may be assumed to be the following: Sugar-cane...... 50 50 Rice (the preparatory crop for cane) Kirkool, or wheat, vegetables, gram, &c.... 250 or 300 These latter crops occurring in the rains, or at the close of them, and only requiring two or three waterings to bring them to perfec Assessment of irrigated lands. 63 tion, would be fully worked out perhaps, if the fixed rates did not interfere; in which case a fair balance-sheet of profit and loss on outlay in repairs could be struck. With such a water-course as this, formerly perhaps only thirty beegas of rice and wheat would have been cultivated, but at least two hundred of the lesser crops; in which case the revenue, as contrasted with the present rates, under which no man can cultivate wheat or inferior crops only, would be as follows: If, therefore, we form our estimate according to the increase or decrease of the revenue, the results produced by the Department when furnishing a larger supply of water for irrigation must be underrated; and if its utility is measured by the number of beegas under cultivation, it must appear in a still more unfavourable light. It appears to us clear that cultivated bagayut land must decrease in extent, whether water be in abundance or otherwise, so long as the most water-consuming crops, and those requiring frequent weedings and heavy manurings, are unduly forced in a thinly-populated district; and so long as it is assessed at a fixed rate, the full utility of the Engineer Department, and the liberal outlay of Government, as well as any permanent benefit conferred, is likely to be misunderstood. It is evident to any one who has traversed the western districts of the Province, that the cultivation of sugar-cane is forced, and it appears to us that the fixed rates have brought about this very undesirable result. By assessing a water-consuming crop at the same rate as others requiring less irrigation, irrigated cultivation must go on decreasing, and loss of revenue invariably follow. It has also one particularly bad effect-that of throwing the irrigated cultivation almost wholly into the hands of the Patels of villages; for with the present rates of assessment on the inferior crops, the poorer cultivators cannot possibly afford to raise them, and every one is aware that sugar-cane and rice can only be cultivated by men of capital. We will now turn our attention to the system according to which a control has been exercised over public works. When an officer was appointed to be Civil Engineer in Khandesh, about the year 1835 or 1836, his work, whatever its nature, originated either with himself or the Collector of the Province. The Civil Engineer was called on perhaps for a plan and estimate by the Collector, who, if he approved, forwarded the papers to the Revenue Commissioner. From the Revenue Commissioner they went to Government, and were returned, either sanctioned or not, as the case might be, through the same channel to the Civil Engineer. When a Military Board was appointed in Bombay in March 1839, these documents were occasionally referred to them for their opinion by Government. The Military Board, as a matter of course, when necessary, referred them sometimes directly to the Civil Engineer; latterly, however, they were referred to the Superintending Engineer, who, if necessary, corresponded with his subordinate officer on the subject, and then sent them to the Military Board, which again sent them to Government. From Government they went to the Revenue Commissioner and the Collector, thus again reaching the Civil Engineer. The system then adopted was as follows:-The Civil Engineer, being called upon for a plan and estimate, if he concurred with the opinion of the Collector as to the necessity of the work, despatched the documents to the Superintending Engineer, who laid them before the Military Board. If approved by the Board, they went back again to the Collector, who transmitted them to the Revenue Commissioner, who sent them to Government. The result was communicated to the Collector by Government through the channel of the Revenue Commissioner, and to the Civil Engineer through the Military Board and Superintending Engineer. An abstract of the different methods which have prevailed, and the existing one, will render the subject clearer. Our principal object is to show the distance travelled over by these documents, without mentioning the time they are liable to be detained in the respective offices they pass through, or the correspondence which is sure to be maintained between any two of the parties. In a case regarding one bhundarra, the correspondence of one office reached the extent of a quire of foolscap paper. Military Board to Civil Engineer direct, or occasionally to ... Government to Revenue Commissioner ... ... ... ... ... ... 154 94 ... ... ... 0 Total miles travelled THIRD METHOD. Collector to Civil Engineer ... ... ... ... ... Civil Engineer to Superintending Engineer... Government to Military Board Military Board to Superintending Engineer... The sanction is conveyed through this channel; it also reaches the Civil Engineer through the channel of the Civil authorities, the former being invariably longer than the latter. In one case total miles travelled... In the other VOL. V.-NO. I. ditto ...1196 ...1074 9 |