1 SAMBHAR.
2 Territorial distribution
3 of salt issued.
4 Appendix VI.
5 Manufacture of salt.
6 Appendix V.
7 Rainfall and the cha-
8 racter of the season.
9 é REPORT ON THE ADMINISTRATION OF THE NORTHERN INDIA
10 A cyclonic storm visited Karachi about the middle of June
11 1902, and the entire stock of salt at the Mauryapur works was
12 destroyed and considerable damage was caused to the salt
13 factories. On the 18th of June 1go2 the Collector of Salt
14 Revenue in Sind telegraphed to this Department for maunds
15 10,000 of salt, and two consignments of maunds 4,000 each
16 were despatched on the 24th and 25th June 1902 to Haidar-
17 -abad by the Jodhpur-Bikaner Railway. The balance of maunds
18 2,000 was about to be forwarded when the Collector intimated.
19 that prospects of manufacture at his works had so much im-
20 proved that a further supply of salt was not required. An
21 adjustment to the credit of the Department of the duty and
22 price value of the salt supplied was effected during the year
23 through the Accounts Department.
24 22. Compared with 1961-03, the quantity of Sambhar salt
25 cleared for despatch to the Punjab rose from maunds 2,37,200
26 to maunds 2,44,000; to the United Provinces from maunds
27 21,82,650 to maunds 25,10,780; to the Central Provinces
28 from maunds 10,000 to maunds 15,315; and to Rajputana .
29 and Central India from maunds 8,54,243 to maunds 9,18,243.
30 Exports to Behar in Bengal alone fell off from maunds 2,600
31 to maunds 1,800; but the trade with that Province in Sam-
32 sbhar salt has never been of importance. The balance of
33 salt which had been purchased, but which had not been
34 removed by the close of the year, amounted to maunds
35 1,25,167. The uncleared balance on the evening of the
36 17th March amounted to maunds 1,65,960. The balance
37 at the beginning of March was maunds 2,53,950, but Mr. Lyon
38 was fortunately able to largely reduce the amount by heavy
39 clearances during the first 17 days of the month. The un-
40 cleared balance at the end of 1901-02 was maunds 2,85,198.
41 The large uncleared balances which often exist at the Lake,
42 and which are usually due to a disinclination on the part
43 of traders to present their rawannahs and bags to remove their
44 salt, form a feature of the Sambhar salt trade. The traders,
45 in fact, willingly lock up their own capital for several weeks
46 23. The conditions under which manufacture was carried
47 on were again unfavourable, but a sufficient quantity of salt
48 was produced to meet the requirements of the trade and to
49 add to the stock of saltin hand. The quantity manufactured,
50 however, (maunds 47,44,234), was less than the production of
51 1901-02 (maunds 61,76,499) by maunds 14,32,265. The year
52 opened with a stock balance of maunds 37,48,739; maunds
53 ‘49,602,557 were manufactured and added to stock during the
54 year, and at its close there was a balance in hand of maunds
55 51,506,987. t
56 24. The rainfall of the entire year amounted to 13°54
57 inches only, The monsoon commenced on the 25th of June
58 1902, and by the end of September a fall of 11°63 inches had
59 been recorded at Sambhar. One inch and 11 cents fell during
60 June, 7’o1 inches in July, only 93 cents in August and 2°58
61 inches in September. The character of the rainfall also was
62 unsatisfactory, as, generally speaking, only showers were
63 received. The Lake was dry when the monsoon commenced
64 and the first showers were quickly absorbed in its bed or
65 evaporated. Some brine collected as the result of the rainfall
66 of July, but the month of August was practically rainless and
67 evaporation was rapid in consequence of the great heat.
68 Fortunately, the fall in September was comparatively gooa, ...
69 and sufficient brine collected to admit of the manufacture of a
70 fairly large quantity of salt in the Kyars. The scarcity of
71 ( 10 )