[British India - Bihar]. Selections From the Records of the Governments of Bengal and Bihar and Orissa. Containing Papers from October 1904 to September 1915 Relating to the Tribeni Canal Project in the Champaran District. Volume I.

€ 500.00

Records of the construction of the Tribeni canal in Champaran in Bihar, India, an important irrigation project carried out by chief engineers of the British Indian Government. The present first volume includes plans and detailed descriptions of the canal bed, 7 aqueducts, and 6 syphons, masonry work and hydraulics, reports of heavy flood damage of 1910, claims by the Bengal and North Western Railway Company for compensation, inspection notes, building contracts, and cost estimates embedded in official correspondence involving the Superintending Engineer of Gandak Circle, the Irrigation Department, and the Public Works Department of Bengal.

During the first decade of the 20th century, three major canals were constructed in Champaran: the Tribeni canal which traversed the northern part of the district from the Tribeni ghat to Mainatand, the Tiur canal which ran from Lakhaura to Chhauradano, and the Dhaka canal which covered the area lying southwest of the Bairgania railway station. All three canals were constructed in order to provide protective irrigation to the district so that in the event of the failure of the monsoon the district did not suffer from scarcity or famine. The work on the Tribeni canal began in 1897 as a famine relief measure, but as soon as the famine was over, work was stopped. The construction of the canal was again taken up in 1901. The first portion of the canal was opened on 7 June 1909; later it was extended by about 62 miles to reach Mainatand.

Considerably rare, like all Patna-printed government papers; no copy traceable in library catalogues.