§ MR. WEIR (Ross and Cromarty)To ask the Secretary of State for India whether he is aware that several of the leading shipowners in Liverpool, and others who are engaged in the shipping trade with Calcutta, state that owing to the mudbanks in the river they will be unable to maintain the trade with 1005 Calcutta unless the river is dredged; and will he consider the expediency of representing to the Calcutta Port Commissioners the necessity for dredging operations between Calcutta and Saugor.
(Answered by Secretary Lord George Hamilton.) I am not aware of the statements quoted in the Question; but I am aware that last year, when the Committee inquired into the working of the Calcutta Port Trust, it was stated in evidence before them that the removal of the bars by dredging the river would cost a crore of rupees, and that no case existed for such an outlay, which, if incurred, would greatly increase the already heavy charges of the port.