THE PLAGUE IN BOMBAY. (Hansard, 25 February 1898)

§ *LORD REAY

My Lords, I rise to ask the Under Secretary of State for India—what is the extent of the increase of the plague in Bombay City this year over the corresponding period of last year; whether it has diminished in the rest of the Presidency; and, if so, to what 7 extent; what steps have been taken to prevent its spread to other parts of India, and how far have they been successful; whether in the conduct of plague operations greater success has been attained than last year in the detection of cases of death from the plague; and whether the co-operation of the people in these operations has been secured; and whether the hospital accommodation and staff of nurses and doctors is adequate to the requirements; and to what extent preventive inoculation has been made use of, and how far the native population have availed themselves of it? I regret, my Lords, that I have to ask the noble Earl opposite for further information with regard to the plague. The famine has disappeared, and we have the expectation of a very abundant harvest; but the plague is still with us, and has reappeared, I believe, in a rather virulent form. My noble Friend Lord Sandhurst has from the beginning thrown his full energy into the work, and devoted all his attention to the means of grappling with this great evil, and I believe that his indefatigable efforts have been very successful. He has been able to secure more and more the co-operation of the people, and to overcome the prejudices which are so widely spread in India against measures which contemplate any hygienic improvements. We have to deplore the recent loss of two nurses, who have shown so much devotion in the discharge of their difficult duties. Sir Richard Thorne lately urged the necessity of endeavouring to get at the root of the evil, which lies in the condition of large parts of the city of Bombay, and I was very pleased to see that this had not escaped the attention of the Bombay Government, and that on the 14th of this month Lord Sandhurst introduced into the Legislative Council a Bill, called the City of Bombay Improvement Bill, which I hope will soon become law. In a statement of the objects and reasons of the Bill, the following description is given of the existing state of things in Bombay— Between 30 and 40 per cent. of the population is concentrated in areas forming together between 3 and 4 per cent. of the area of the Island, and the density of the population in these areas is double, and in parts more than three times that of the most crowded areas in 8 London. The mortality per thousand of population in these districts from all causes in 1896 varied from 52.15 to 68.09, the rate for the whole city being 40.71. Over a large section of these districts, the ground area per person is under 10 square yards, and the overcrowding and consequent air pollution are appalling the Health Officer records that the six sections of highest mortality are the six most densely populated sections, containing the darkest and dampest buildings, and that live out of the six are the sections of the worst drainage and soil pollution. With a view to effectually remedy these conditions, the Bill provides for the improvement of the City by forming new and altering existing streets, by removing or altering insanitary buildings, by providing open spaces for better ventilation, and for recreation, and by constructing new sanitary dwellings for certain classes of the inhabitants of the City and for the Presidency Police. It is further stated that— It is found on investigation that it will be possible, by suitably aligning the new streets so urgently necessary for the improved ventilation of the densely populated parts of the City, to take up a large proportion of the insanitary dwellings in certain localities, as either a part of the street, or as frontage lands abutting thereon. The principle of adopting the alignment which will secure this in the largest degree, is obviously one that will regulate the conception of projects of this class. The machinery which the Bill proposes to put into operation to carry out the scheme is a Board of Trustees, on which the Corporation shall be strongly represented. The Bombay Government have been, to my mind, extremely judicious in selecting that agency, because the existing Board of Trustees for the Port has been hitherto exceedingly successful. It is intended that that Trust shall, in constitution and powers, very closely follow the lines on which the Port Trust was formed. The idea of such a Trust is not a new one, a prominent precedent being the City of Glasgow Improvement Trust, which was constituted for similar purposes, and has been most successful in its results. The proposal has received the approval of the Municipal Corporation, as well as that of the Chamber of Commerce and the Board of Trustees for the Port of Bombay. I know that this Bill has been introduced with the cordial assent of the Government of India, and I have no doubt that anything that can be done here will be done to expedite its passing 9 into law as a Bill of immediate urgency. It certainly reflects the greatest credit on the Administration in India that they I have hitherto been successful in limiting the extension of the plague, and that the greater part of India has not been afflicted by this terrible scourge. I beg, my Lords, to ask the Under Secretary of State for India the questions of which I have given notice.

*THE EARL OF ONSLOW

My Lords, it is fortunate, in a way, that the greatest scourges which Providence inflicts on mankind are not always without some compensating advantages, and it has often happened, when a severe infliction such as the plague has fallen on a community that the result has been to wake up the minds of men to make preparation and take precautions against a recurrence of such evils. I am not without hope that if the Bill which the noble Lord has referred to—the City of Bombay Improvement Bill—is carried into law, the effect will be to make Bombay a much purer and a much healthier city in time to come than it has been in the past. In answer to the question which the noble Lord has placed on the paper, I may say that in Bombay city the plague and plague deaths were rapidly growing worse from the 1st December last until the week ending the 11th February the present month. The number of reported plague deaths in Bombay city were, for instance, for the three weeks ending January 28th, February 4th, and February 11th, 840, 1,004, and 1,220 respectively. The corresponding figures for last year were, on the other hand, 402, 607, and 803 only. The last telegram received from India contains, fortunately, better news. The deaths for the week ending February 18th have fallen to 1,136, or 84 less than in the previous week. This is the first time for ten weeks that our weekly telegram has not shown a progressive increase in the reported plague deaths in Bombay city. For the corresponding week in 1897 the figure was 849, as compared with the 1,136 mentioned. But it must be pointed out that the Government of Bombay believe the plague deaths to be more strictly and more completely reported now than they were 10 last year. Also, they estimate the present population of the city at 800,000 persons, as compared with about 450,000 last year, owing to the exodus on account of the panic caused by the plague. Immense efforts are being made in a systematic way to combat the plague and prevent its spreading in the city, and experience of successful plague campaigns elsewhere is being utilised. The Government, its officers, and the Governor himself are not sparing themselves. The hospitals are well organised, the supply of doctors and nurses is sufficient, reinforcements being sent from home, at two or three days' notice, whenever asked for. Ten more doctors went this week. In all, 59 men and women doctors and 61 nurses have been sent. It is with deep regret that I have to inform your Lordships I hat two of the lady nurses, Miss Morgan and Miss MacDougall—the latter of whom is the sister of a valued colleague of mine on the London County Council—have died of plague during the performance of their duties. The Plague Committee has recently been strengthened, and the superior skilled staff is nearly double that employed last year. In addition, part of the detective staff are employed in research work. As an instance of the manner in which the Bombay Plague Committee carries out its work, I may mention that recently 16,600 houses were inspected during a single week, with the result that 600 plague cases were discovered. Camp accommodation was also ready for 8,800 persons, and was in course of construction for 15,000 persons, so that accommodation for 23,800 persons either has now been, or will be, provided. Twenty-nine hospitals were also open containing 1,011 cases. For purposes of organisation, Bombay city has been divided into wards, which are sub-divided into districts and sub-divisions of districts, and these again into smaller areas. Persons who have been in contact with the sick are carefully segregated. About 7½ per cent. of such persons are found to be infected. The people themselves are, to some extent, co-operating, and it may be hoped that the epidemic will yield to continued persistent, and well-directed effort. In the Bombay Presidency, outside Bombay, the situation is very different. In Karachi city, where the plague was most severe and fatal 11 last year, and in the province of Sind, generally, there has been no plague this year except six cases in Upper Sind; there has not been a single plague death in Karachi for four and a half months. Over the whole of the Bombay Presidency (including native States) outside Bombay city plague deaths ranged from 1,800 to 2,000 deaths per week during November, 1897; during the past four weeks, the total plague deaths in the same territory have been 945, 868, 866, and 747, during the week ended February 18th. In individual towns the decrease has been much more marked; thus Poona city averaged 431 plague deaths a week during November, while during the past two weeks the Poona plague deaths have been 37 and 21. In Sattara district plague deaths ranged from 696 to 1,003 a week during November; during the past two weeks in Sattara plague deaths have been 110 and 84. In Sholapur, Palanpur, Kutch, and almost every town and district, except Baroda, there has been a gradual or a rapid diminution of plague deaths during the past two months. We may say that within the Presidency of Bombay, outside Bombay city, and even in Bombay city, to some extent, as already explained, the plague has almost everywhere diminished: the measures taken against plague have been improved and extended; while, on the whole, the people have come, or are coming, to acquiesce in, or even sometimes to co-operate in, anti-plague work. It is only in new places where plague operations first begin that opposition occurs, and only in a very few cases has any act of overt opposition been recorded. Constant precautions and inspections are taken through the agency of men and women doctors, and other trustworthy officials on the railways and at seaports to prevent plague from being carried to other parts of India. So far these measures have succeeded in preventing the spread of the epidemic, which has now raged for 18 months in the western Presidency. The latest weekly reports for India, outside the Presidency of Bombay, show a very few cases in Rajputana on the confines of Bombay 12 territory, and a very few imported or sporadic cases in the Saharanpur district of the North-West Provinces, near to Hardwar. Plague is also prevalent in epidemic form in some ten villages on the borders of the Jullundur and Hoshiapur districts of the Punjaub. In these villages plague has been present for six months, but the restrictive measures taken have so far succeeded in preventing its spreading beyond this small area. In the Nizam's territory of Haidarabad a larger number of cases is reported, but measures are being taken to cope with the outbreak efficiently. No plague is reported from other parts of India. The anti-plague measures, no doubt, cause inconvenience and annoyance to the people, as they would do to us if, unhappily, they had to be taken in the United Kingdom. But every effort, by constant care and inspection, is made to prevent all avoidable trouble and annoyance to the people. Where causeless inconvenience occurs the remedy is applied promptly, and on the whole the people appear to admit the expediency of these measures and to recognise the goodwill of the Government in the matter. As to the steps taken to prevent the spread of the plague, I may mention that travellers by railway, steamer, and boat, from plague districts, to other parts of India, are examined by medical men and women, disinfected, and, if necessary, retained in segregation camps before they are allowed to proceed to, or disembark at their destination. Similarly, persons leaving infected cities and towns, are examined before they are allowed to start, and are detained if their symptoms or previous surroundings give cause for apprehension that the travellers may carry plague to non-infected districts. As to prevent inoculation against plague, this has been largely employed after the system of Dr. Haffkine, and the Government of India consider that the result of his experiments made at Damaun is so encouraging that they are not without hope that protection may be proved to be possible by means of prophylactic inoculation. They think that every opportunity should be taken 13 to test its efficacy, and local governments and administrations have been directed to procure a supply of serum for the use of persons who desire to have themselves inoculated. Dr. Haffkine, himself has recently been instructed to proceed to Baroda to carry out inoculation there. Information on this and other subjects will be laid before your Lordships in a Blue Book which is now passing through the Press.