CiiAP. XXXIl.] 
BALAGHAT : UKUA. 
7S1 
Nadi has since niy visit been bridged. But there is also a descent 
of about 1,000 feet of the ghats between Tvaugur and Pipriatola, and 
althougli this is easy enough for the laden carts on their way to Balaghat, 
yet on the return journey the ascent is a slow piece of work even for 
empty carts. Hence it is obvious that transjiort by bullock-carts will 
be a slow and expensive method, apart from the difficulty of obtaining 
a large number of carts in this rather sparsely inhabited part of the 
district ; indeed it is probable that this means of transport would be 
financially possible only when fairly high prices for manganese-ore were 
obtainable. 
There is a scheme under consideration for carrying a branch of the 
Satpura Railway from Mandla to Bilaspur, via Baihar. Should this 
project be carried out, a branch some 15 miles could be constructed to 
Samnapur, Ukua, Rupjhar, and even (Ihondi. Such a branch would 
serve, not only to transpoit the manganese-ores, but also to facilitate 
the working of the rich bauxite deposits of this area, either for bringing 
up the plant and raw materials necessary for smelting the bauxite on 
the spot, or for transporting it to some_ smelting centre. 
Should this scheme fall through it will be necessary to send the ore 
to Balaghat Railway Station. By means of an assisted siding frona the 
Bengal-Nagpur Railway as far as the foot of the ghats and then a com- 
bination of tramway and aerial ropeway, it is estimated that 50,000 
tons of ore could be despatched yearly. 
Messrs. Burn & Co. and P. C. Dutt have been opening up this deposit 
during 1905 and 1906 and have succeeded in despatching to England 
during 1906 over 2,000 tons of ore. They report that the ore-bed was 
followed for some 80 feet by a drive down the dip-plane, and that at this 
point the bed suddenly dipped over almost to the vertical. It is interest- 
ing to note that this sudden steepening of the dip also characterizes 
the Balaghat deposit (see page 720). The deposit was transferred to 
the Carnegie Steel Co. in 1907- 
^ ^ , The output from this deposit during 1906 and 
Output. r n 
1907 was as follows :— 
Long tons. 
1906 2,303 
1907 19,400 1 
1 Includini- 5,000 tons extracted by Tata, Sons & Co. at Gudma. 
