E-Paper
Taste of life: When shifting of Poona lab annoyed Europeans
The European residents of Poona were annoyed when authorities decided to shift Imperial Bacteriological Laboratory in Poona to Muktesar near Almora
In 1896, when the monsoon decided not to visit the Bombay Presidency, Anglo-Indian civilians and soldiers living in Poona were worried. They dreaded the heat and the disease. During the draught of 1877–79, Poona had witnessed a considerable shortage of meat. Those who had spent at least two decades in India were also troubled by the memories of the 1877–79 draught and the impending shortage of food grains, and, of course, meat. They feared that heat and lack of water and pasture, would kill animals which would deprive them of their favourite delicacies.
To add to their chagrin, just a year earlier, had come the news that the Imperial Bacteriological Laboratory in Poona had been shifted to Muktesar near Almora. The European residents of Poona were annoyed. The government knew that Poona housed a large European population and it needed an equally large supply of meat regularly, enough to qualify the stationing of the laboratory; hence it should not be shifted, they argued.
The losses of livestock due to back to back famines had been enormous. Owing to the veneration in which the cow is held by Hindus there was, in ordinary times, a large number of old animals which found a subsistence on the uncultivated lands. The drought which prevailed in 1877–79 and later in 1896–1898 no doubt caused a great diminution in the numbers of these cattle, and the scarcity of fodder was so great that a very considerable proportion of the plough bullocks and milch cattle were lost in several provinces. In the more favoured tracts, like Berar and the Central Provinces, the more valuable cattle were saved by the unremitting care of the owners. But in the Bombay Presidency, Gujarat and the arid planes of south-east Punjab, several herds had disappeared.
Humans have aspired to fight diseases since time immemorial. The science of immunology and the evolution of biological products remained dormant for about a century after Edward Jenner established the efficacy of biological products by demonstrating the effectiveness of cowpox in the immunisation of human beings against smallpox in 1798. But thereafter microbiologists started looking for ways to combat various microbes fatal to man and animals.
The British had realised the importance of rendering proper laboratory investigations to fight diseases. The East India Company brought British veterinarians in 1817 to India to undertake work on tropical diseases in human beings and animals. These veterinarians did not possess adequate expertise to investigate diseases in animals.
In 1869, the Indian Cattle Plague Commission was set up to study the devastating cattle diseases in British colonies. The Commission recommended setting up a laboratory to study tropical diseases. The devastating “rinderpest” outbreak of 1865–66 also contributed to the decision of establishing such a modern laboratory. “Rinderpest” had scourged Indian cattle. It had probably got introduced into India through the northeastern route from Mongolia/China around the mid–18th century. In 1871, the commission, headed by JHB Hallen carried out a detailed study of the murrain across the country based on farmers’ reports and identified it as identical to the one prevalent during that time in Europe.
But it was not until 1889 that such a laboratory could be set up in Poona.
In India, the development in the field of serotherapy dates back to 1889, when the Imperial Bacteriological Laboratory was established at Poona. During these 132 years, appreciable developments have taken place in the field of conservation and improvement of the livestock industry and a retrospect would reveal a summation of events which has brought into existence a chain of units for the elaboration of early concepts with which this laboratory was established.
The laboratory initially was set up on the premises of the then College of Science. Sir Dinshaw Maneckjee Petit donated 5.5 acres of land adjacent to the college building for the laboratory. The foundation stone was laid down by the then Governor of Bombay on December 9, 1889.
The laboratory was first housed in the College of Science at Poona, under the administrative control of the Government of Bombay, and the services of a distinguished bacteriologist, Dr Alfred Lingard. He had under him a member of the veterinary department as a clinical assistant; and another member of the department, the superintendent of the Bacteriological Survey who worked with him, besides conducting a survey of diseases prevalent in India.
Lingard was entrusted with investigating diseases of domesticated animals in all provinces of India and to ascertain, as far as possible, by biological research both in the laboratory and, when necessary, at the place of an outbreak, the means for preventing and curing such diseases.
During the initial years, Lingard worked in the Poona laboratory mainly on the investigation of “Surra” in horses, sheep, and cows. It is a disease caused by a parasite and is mostly fatal in animals.
He found, however, that the climate of the plains rendered laboratory research work extremely difficult and was also little suitable for the manufacture and preservation of vaccines and serums. There was also great apprehension about the presence of bovine blood in the laboratory which would have hurt the sentiments of Hindu students attending the College of Science.
Consequently, in 1893, it was decided to shift the laboratory to a suitable site in the hills, and Muktesar in Kumaon was selected for this purpose.
The packing of the scientific instruments and fittings of the laboratory commenced in February 1895 and all the goods to the weight of 30 tonnes were despatched by rail to Kathgodam via Bareilly by the middle of May 1895. On the arrival of goods at Kathgodam railway station, they were transported by bullock carts to Bhowalie, the nearest point to Muktesar on the Kathgodam – Ranikhet road.At this point, under the superintendence of Mr M Kelway Bamber, clinical assistant, a number of the larger boxes were repacked – to reduce their bulk – on account of the inadequate supply of porters for the necessary transport of larger cases. Consequently, the carriage of goods to the site of the laboratory at Muktesar was stalled.
The news reached Poona. A few civilian Europeans hoped that since the laboratory had not started functioning at Muktesar, they could still make an appeal to the government and bring it back to Poona. A petition was sent to the Governor immediately. It was also published in “The Bombay Telegraph and Courier” on October 9, 1895.
The Governor ignored the petition, for the laboratory started functioning at Muktesar in 1896. It later became a part of the Indian Veterinary Research Institute and produced vaccines for rinderpest and anthrax.
Chinmay Damle is a research scientist and food enthusiast. He writes here on Pune’s food culture. He can be contacted at chinmay.damle@gmail.com
