§ SIR JOHN LENG (Dundee)I beg to ask the Secretary of State for India, having regard to the fact that consequent on defective rainfalls Cutch and the surrounding districts have been visited during the last four years by consecutive famines, what steps have been taken or will be taken to construct canal and other irrigation works from the Indus to diminish the sufferings of the people, encourage agriculture, and restore to cultivation large tracts of and land.
§ * THE SECRETARY OF STATE FOR INDIA (Lord G. HAMILTON,) Middlesex, EalingI am not aware that any project for constructing a canal from the Indus to the native state of Cutch has ever been proposed, and the physical configuration of the country would probably render its execution impossible. In the British districts of Sindh, which adjoins Cutch, the question of extending irrigation from the Indus is receiving continuous attention.