SALT 

 BRINE SPRINGS: IMPORTED SAI.i SODIUM CHIX>HIO 



Government D*| 



The town of Pachbadra has a population of 5,000, and stamb on the right 

 bank of the Luni (the salt) river and at a distance of 40 miles from the 

 i it v of Jodhpur. The salt is found in the upper end of a sand-valle- 

 salt-bearing tract being about six miles long and under two mile* wide. 

 All over that area brine-springs exist, and from these the salt ia manu- 

 f;i< tared. In 1878 the Government of Indi.i pun-hated by frnnnaJ subsidy 

 < omplete control of these brine-wells, the p of which is n 



30,000 tons. Pits of an average length of i'.{ f.-.-t ;m. I a breadth of 60 feet 

 are dug to the level of the brine --prings and become filled with brine to a 

 depth of 3 feet. Thorny branches / n< turn //" >nn arc thrown 

 into the pits and the salt precipitates on these, thus causing more flow of 

 brine. The density of the brine varies from 20 to 26 Beaume. 



The salt source of Didwana is also situate in Jodhpur at a distance Didwi 

 of 40 miles N.W. of Sambhar Lake. The supply of brine is abundant 

 and believed to be inexhaustible, and in the dry climate of the desert 

 manufacture could be carried on for nine months of the year. The rainfall 

 has no effect on the salt-producing capabilities of this source. Since the 

 Government acquired sole rights (1878) about 300,000 tons of salt have 

 been made. The cost of production comes to lOrf. a ton and it is sold at * l * an *- 

 Is. 8d. a ton, but the want of sufficient means of transit restricts the 

 traffic. The Didwana salt is practically all consumed in Rajputana and 

 the adjoining districts of the Panjab. During the years 1897 to 1903 

 the annual average production came to 10,502 tons. 



These salt-wells thus occur in what may be viewed as a former bed of Kach. 

 the Luni river ; and lower down in the present basin, just before the rivet 

 debouches into the Rann of Kach, a large delta is formed through which 

 during floods numerous channels carry the waters to the sea. In the 

 dry months of the year, when the bed of the main stream is perfectly dry, 

 brine percolates into the tributary channels and salt is formed naturally 

 in thousands of tons annually, only to be swept away when the river comes 

 down in torrents with the monsoons. 



THE SALT DEPARTMENT. In 1894 the Government of India had Salt De- 

 a Memorandum prepared, as a conspectus of the systems and methods of PrtmenL 

 the administration of the Indian salt revenue in all its branches and in 

 all provinces. There may be said to be four centres of administration 

 (1) Bengal, (2) North India, (3) Bombay and (4) Madras. These are 

 briefly as follows : 



1. Bengal. " Bengal and the greater part of Burma obtain their salt 

 hy importation. Under the Muhammadan rule a tax was levied on salt t 

 by means of imposts on the privilege of manufacture, and by duties on 

 the transport of salt from the places of manufacture to the interior of the 

 country. Later on a system was gradually matured which provided for 

 the control, the manufacture, and sale at the agency to the Company's 

 servants. This was introduced by Olive and perfected by Warren Hastings 

 in 1765 to 1780, and it survived in a modified form till 1862. A Govern- 

 ment salt monopoly similar to that which existed in Bengal was introduced 

 in the Madras Presidency at the beginning of the 19th centurv. In 

 Bombay salt did not become a considerable source of revenue till 1837. 



" The trade in Cheshire salt rose to importance about the year 1835, import* ant 

 and thenceforward imported salt gradually ousted the Native product in 

 Bengal proper, until by 1873-4 local manufacture had ceased and the 

 accumulated stocks had become exhausted. The dampness of the climate 



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