50 
Indian Forest Records. 
fVOL. IV. 
(7) Lines of export. 
In forming an estimate of the cost of extraction and the methods by 
which the bamboos could be exploited, the proposed factory site is taken 
to be on the Okkan river, somewhere near to the point where that 
river cuts the railway. (See red circle on map.) However, were the 
factory to be erected near Insein on the Hlaing, otherwise known as 
the Myitmaka river, the extra expense incurred in floating the bam¬ 
boos another 30 miles or so down from the Okkan railway bridge would 
be relatively small. 
The Okkan river, with its tributaries, of which the more important 
are the Yindaik, Kangya, Chaungyaung and Mingaung, completely taps 
the Okkan Reserve, while the main stream passes the proposed factory 
site at Okkan village. It is not a large river, being about 50 yards broad 
where it comes out of the reserved forest, and its bed is sandy, with few 
boulders to impede floating. It is the main stream by which bamboo 
rafts are brought down to the railway from the Okkan forests. These 
rafts, of which several were being taken down when the river was 
inspected, are constructed in the upper reaches of the river and floated 
down any time from the middle of June to the middle of January. In 
the smaller tributaries floating is not possible after October. After the 
bamboos have been dragged to the main or by-streams, a distance of 
one mile or less, they can be floated directly from the forest to the 
factory, the distance from the centre of the Reserve to that place being 
about 18 miles. 
The work of extracting bamboos from the Hlaing Yoma Reserve 
is of a somewhat different nature. From Compartments 9 and 13 to 
25 the bamboos can be dragged and carted to Thanachaung Railway 
Station (see map), an average distance of 8 miles, and from there they 
can be railed to the factory near Okkan station, a distance of about 
15 miles, while Compartments 26 to 28 and 29 to 30 can be worked out 
by dragging for a mile or so and carting 7 miles to Palon station, 
whence they can be taken by rail some 10 miles to the factory. The 
lines of export are therefore very suitable for the extraction of bamboos, 
for when the supply of raw material from the Okkan Reserve is no 
longer available, owing to insufficient water in the river for floating 
operations, i.e., during six months in the year, it will be possible, owing 
to the fair weather roads being open to cart traffic during the dry season, 
to exploit bamboos from the Hlaing Yoma Reserve, thus ensuring a 
continuous supply of raw material throughout the year. 
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