Page:Bulandshahr- Or, Sketches of an Indian District- Social, Historical and Architectural.djvu/117

 In the three outlying Municipalities of Khurja, Anupshahr and Sikandarabad, it has not been found possible to insist upon an equal attention to minutiæ, or to secure the same air of congruity as pervades the streets and bazars of Bulandshahr. Though Khurja is by far the largest and richest town in the district, and several of its principal citizens have handsome dwelling-houses with gate ways and façades of carved stone, these indications of wealth are, for the most part, buried away in the back lanes and alleys, while the sides of the main thoroughfares continue to be disfigured with mud walls and unsightly excrescences, which the native members of the Committee are too apathetic to set themselves to abolish. In each of the three towns, however, some one large scheme has been successfully accomplished. Even at Anupshahr, which has an annual income of little more than Rs. 6,000, by dint of economy it has been found possible to provide funds for the construction of a large and handsome Saráe in the form of a quadrangle, with vaulted cells and corridors and a fine entrance gateway, over which will be built a Committee Room as at Bulandshahr. The cost has been Rs. 9,200, and it brings in an annual return of Rs. 250. At Sikandarabad, which lies in a hollow, and had suffered terribly from fever, a great improvement in the public health has been effected by an expenditure of Rs. 4,150 on an extensive system of drainage. The channel, which is in five branches, with a total length of 7½ miles, makes a complete circuit of the town and has its ultimate outfall in a natural water-course. The large sum of Rs. 12.500 has also been allotted for a Town Hall, still in course of erection. The doors, which are entirely the work of local carpenters, are of remarkably handsome design and careful execution. Being greatly admired by visitors, they have had an important effect in stimulating the revival of a decaying art, and now the traders in the principal bazar are vying with one another in the excellence of the carved arcades with which they are ornamenting their shop fronts, and which promise to render the street one of the most picturesque in the district. The movement is entirely spontaneous, and shows what an immense influence for good in the encouragement of indigenous arts and industries might be exercised by Municipal Committees if only they had more liberty of action than is often accorded them, and were not compelled to submit their designs for the sanction of a department which abominates individuality.

At Khurja the new market-place and bazar may fairly claim to be the