1 SALT REVENUE DEPARTMENT FOR THE OFFICIAL YEAR 1896-97,
2 The figures show that in comparison with 1895-96 there pry
3 was a small increase in the removals to the North-Western ge
4 Provinces and Oudh, the Punjab, Rajputdna and Central India,
5 These are the principal areas of consumption of Sambhar salt,
6 and it is satisfactory to find that the demand was steady during
7 a year like the past. The decrease in the Central Provinces
8 is believed to be due to the competition of Baragara salt. The
9 consumption of Sambhar in that direction has never been large.
10 The removals to Bengal have fallen off considerably owing to
11 a decrease in exports to Nepal. Further information on the
12 subject of the distribution of the trade will be found in the
13 following paragraph.
14 39. The clearances of rail-borne salt will be found classi- territorial
15 ; = ° * di * .
16 fied by railways in the following statement :— bye ee
17 Quantity of salt carried, |
18 + Increase
19 or
20 1895-96. 1896 97. | decrease.
21 Mds. Mads, Mas.
22 Bombay, Baroda, and Central India, including 17,48,631 17,388,703 — 9,928
23 Réjputana-Malwa Railway,
24 North-Western Railway a iss 1,09,875 1,14,550 +4,675
25 East Indian Railway ... ise sver't 4,33,257 4,36,280 +3,023
26 Indian Midland Railway ies sii 3,112,088 3,41,699 +30,611
27 Oudh aud Bobilkhand hailway ... es 9,28.604 9,29,846 41,242
28 Rohilkhand and Kumaun Railway... a 2,01,720 2,217,775 +16,055
29 Bengal and North-Western Railway including 1,07,285 2,78,935 — 28,350
30 Tirhoot State Railway.
31 Bengal-Nagpur Railway. tes sie 1,813 8,818 +7,500
32 Eastern Bengal State Railway .., a 187 aoe - 187
33 Great Indian Peninsula Railway .., oes 13 aca --13
34 ES ———
35 Total es '88,41,973 | —- 38,66,601 24,628
36 The figures show an increase in. the traffic of six railways,
37 the North-Western, the East Indian, the Indian Midland, the
38 Oudh and Rohilkhand, the Rohilkhand and Kumaun and the
39 Bengal and Nagpur lines, while there was a falling off on the
40 Bombay, Baroda and Central India Railway, and on the Bengal
41 and North-Western, the Eastern Bengal, and the Great Indian
42 Peninsula lines. The net difference in favour of the past year
43 amounts to maunds 24,628,
44 With the exception of a petty quantity of Sambhar salt,
45 maunds 5 in 1895-96 and maunds 123 during the past year,
46 which was sent to Bombay for the use of some of the people
47 of Raéjputana resident there, the whole of the traffic with the
48 Bombay, Baroda and Central India Railway was carried over
49 the amalgamated Rajputdna Malwa line and its branches,
50 The quantity of salt so dealt with amounted to maunds
51 17,38,703 compared with maunds 17,48,631 during 1895-96, or a
52 decrease of maunds 9,928. There is no trade with the section
53 of the Rajputina Malwa Railway between Ajmereand Ahmeda-
54 bad, as beyond Ajmere, Sambhar cannot compete with Pach-
55 badra. The traffic in Sambhar salt follows the line from
56 Sambhar, vid Ajmere, down the Khandwa branch as far
57 as Indore on the one side, and on the other from Sambhar
58 to Agra, Cawnpur, Delhi and along the Rewari-Ferozepore
59 branch as high up as Sirsa. The quantity of salt carried over
60 the section of the line from Sambhar, vid Ajmere, towards
61 Khandwa, and including the Chitorgarh-Udaipur branch,
62 amounted during the year to maunds 2,04,657 compared with
63 maunds 1,91,379 in 1895-96, or an increase of maunds 13,278.
64 ( 3% )