1 SALT REVENUE DEPARTMENT FOR THE OFFICIAL YEAR 1901-1902.
2 remain to be dealt with. Considerable economy will result SAMBHAR.
3 from the completion of this work, as the maintenance of
4 perishable grass and stakes to protect the sides of the pans
5 from erosion is expensive.
6 Pan salt was purchased from the contractors, who worked
7 the pans, at the rate of 3°36 pies a maund, and its storage cost
8 1°37 pies a maund, or, in all, 4°73 piesa maund. This coms
9 pares favourably with the rate of 8°14 pies a maund paid in
10 1900-01, when special difficulties were experienced in working
11 lake edge pans, as described in paragraph 14 of the report
12 for that year. The cost of production is also lower than that
13 of Kyar salt, but it must be remembered that the Kyars pro-
14 duce salt in larger quantities, and of better quality, than pans on
15 _ the lake edge.
16 19. The increasing difficulty of obtaining salt atSambhar Enquiry into the resour-
17 in quantity sufficient to meet the demand induced Mr. Dane <8 °F re ou =
18 to consider the question of the resources of the lake before cal Survey.
19 he went on leave in January 1902, and on his recommenda-
20 tion an officer of the Geological Survey, Dr. F. Noetling,
21 Palzontologist to the Government of India, was deputed,
22 under the orders of Government, to visit the lake and’ exa-
23 mine the source whence the salt is derived. This visit was
24 paid just before the close of the year, and the conclusions at
25 which Dr. Noetling arrived were—(1) that the production of
26 salt is in direct proportion to the quantity of water which ac-
27 cumulates in the lake basin during the annual rainfall; (2)
28 that this water takes up chloride of sodium from a stratum of
29 b-ine, which underlies the bed of the lake under hydrostatic
30 pressure, and the horizon of which is within a few feet of the
31 surface ; (3) that, the decrease in the production of salt is sole-
32 ly due to the deficient rainfall of late years; and (4) that on
33 the recurrence of normal rainfall the production of salt will
34 assume its former dimensions. The theory advanced by Dr.
35 Noetling as to the origin of the subterranean brine is that it
36 ‘ rises from below through a fault in the strata of the Aravali
37 Range, which crosses the lake along its minor axis. This
38 theory will, if possible, be tested during the current year by a
39 series of borings in the lake-bed, and, if it proves correct, the
40 future of Sambhar will be assured, unless a failure occurs in
41 the supply of subterranean brine, and there is 'at present no
42 reason to apprehend this. I trust that it will be possible to
43 decide definitely during the current year with regard to the
44 resources of this important salt source.
45 20. Dr. Noetling’s report emphasises the importance of the Water-supply of the
46 water-supply of tle lake. The question of the removal of ake
47 the obstructions on the rivers which provide that supply, and
48 which was alluded to inthe Report of 1g00-o1, continued to
49 be discussed during the year. Observations of river dis-
50 charges during the monsoon of 1gor proved to be of no value
51 owing to the deficient rainfall. Since the close of the year
52 it has been decided by the Government of India that no steps
53 are to be taken which would interfere with any existing irriga-
54 tioh works in the catchment area of the lake, until reliable
55 data are available as to the discharge of river water into its
56 basin. Complete observations, during the monsoon of 1902,
57 of the discharge of all the streams which enter the lake, will
58 # be recorded, by the officers of the Public Works Department
59 in Rajputana.
60 21. The balance of stock with which the year closed, Stock balance of :a't,
61 maunds 37,48,739, was satisfactorily large in the difficult Appendix v.
62 circumstances attendant on manufacture during the year,
63 (7)