Shuttling between Mohammadpur and Pathri: My job at Mohammadpur and Pathri Powerstations involved regular shuttling between Mohammadpur and Pathri. I had my Cheverolet tourer car, which was a reasonably good guzzler of fuel. In the aftermath of the war, there was an acute shortage of fuel. Petrol was not freely available from the petrol pumps. Supplies were regulated through the quarterly issue of coupons for registered vehicles. Government servants with touring duties were entitled to get some extra coupons from their controlling officers to supplement their normal quota of coupons. Then there were long queues on the petrol stations, because there was considerable gap between available supplies with the petrol pumps and the demands of coupon holders. To avoid unnecessary embarrassment and long queues, the local administration used to authorize a regulating officer to check the supplies available with the petrol pumps and to countersign the petrol coupons to the extent of available supplies. All this involved substantial planning of movement to ensure that the fuel tanks of the transport vehicles were able to maintain some reserve. Sometimes, when petrol was not available for our car, we made trips in the transport vehicles of the department, which were involved in ferrying the stores and equipment from Mohammadpur to Pathri.
Services: Government was the major employer in British Provinces during the war and and for some years after the war. The salaries were generally meagre and the expectations and ambitions of the people were limited. The scale of pay at the lowest rung of services, which included peons, guards, runners and other support staff started from Rs 20 per month and ended at Rs 25 per month. It is sometimes very difficult to imagine, how a man recruited in the prime of his youth on Rs 20 per month, dedicated his whole life to the state for reaching the maximum of the scale and to become entitled to a paltry pension. They were the persons who were responsible for safety, security and normal functioning of the officers of the government. Moving day to day from place to place with the officers, with all their bag and baggage and surviving on minimum available facilities, they made tremendous contribution to the performance of the officers. They were hardworking people, committed to their daily routines, with a sense of satisfaction and glow on their faces and always keen to do, whatever work was assigned to them and perhaps much more. To top it all, they were, by and large, honest people, without unnecessary distractions, ambitions and expectations.
During the British period the salaries of officers of the rank of assistant engineers started from Rs 250 per month, which was a reasonably good sum during that period. Looking to the times, the salaries of senior officers of the provincial services were also reasonably good. Chief Engineers and Superintending Engineers were mostly drawn from the Indian Service of Engineers, who enjoyed good scales of pay and the maximum of their pay went up to Rs 3000 per month. Naturally, 90% of the officers working in public works departments of U.P. at that time had economically comfortable living and could be treated as dedicated and honest people.
Military Works: When war broke out in 1939 the development of roads, railways and other modes of communications in India were extremely limited. After the German blitz in Europe, British Government in India woke up and found itself totally unprepared for the exigencies of the war. With the German thrust in North Africa and possible push towards the middle east, Iraq became a major theatre of war and Indian troops were suddenly thrown into the war for fighting side by side with the British troops. The conditions worsened when Japan entered the war and started knocking at the doors of Burma. Temporary aerodromes and airstrips were constructed at a number of places in the country and on the border for the movement of troops and essential supplies and reinforcement. Trunk routes were made motorable for the movement of large convoys of army vehicles. Since rails were not being manufactured in India at that time, some of the branch lines were dismantled and the railheads were extended upto the border. Due to sudden surge in recruitment of army personnel, temporary barracks were constructed in military cantonments and other places, all over the country. And to top it all, there was a regular flow of prisoners of war from Europe necessitating the construction of prisoner of war camps at safe locations. At that time, there was an acute shortage of all types of trained manpower and physical facilities and material resources required by the defence services at short notice. For almost 150 years India was a captive market of Britain for the import of raw materials to Britain and for the export of almost all types of consumer goods and services to India. That was the time, when among others, the services of a large chunk of the officers of Public Works Departments of British Provinces were requisitioned for military services. These officers had a free hand during the war. When they returned to the parent departments after the war, they were very different persons and had difficulty in adjustment to the normal dedication to the field jobs of the department.
Our last days at Mohammadpur Pathri: On the eve of our departure from Mohammadpur Pathri, we made a trip to Mayapur with all members of the family, friends and close relations in September 1949. It was a great treat to watch Ganga Canal gushing out from the head regulator at Mayapur. It had been flowing like that with unending turbulence for almost hundred years. We stayed there for some time and had visions of Col Proby Cautley moving on horseback along the bed of Ganga Canal, while the canal waters were finding their way out of the regulator for the first time and were seen closely following the distinguished builder along the bed. Mayapupr Dam presents a fascinating view with the imposing administrative quarters built on the dam and the side channel of Ganga river flowing through Har-ki-peri and other ghats of Haridwar turning into Ganga Canal after the passage of its waters through the head regulator at Mayapur. The surplus waters of the side channel, if any, join the main stream of river Ganga through an escape located on the left side of Mayapur dam. An island of sand dunes and other river deposits separated the streamlined flow of the side channel on the right side from turbulent flows of main river on the left. Lore of Ganga induced us to undertake a trek from Mayapur to Bhimgoda, the headworks of Ganga Canal, where river Ganga can be seen in full flow with all its fury. With hill ranges on both sides, the bed of the river is in the shape of a trough. With lush green trees cladding the hills and sparkling sprays of river waters in the middle, the environment is almost mesmerizing. While we were enjoying the bounties of nature, we were told that a boat is waiting for us on the banks of the side channel. We boarded the boat, the anchors were lifted and the boat was moving slowly and majestically over the waters of the side channel, passing through har-ki-Pairi and other ghats of Haridwar finally landing us back at Mayapur.
Ranipur and Pathri: We made our return trip from Mayapur to Ranipur through the service road running on the bank of Ganga Canal. There was a 9 ft fall in Ganga Canal at Ranipur. It is a treat to watch the silently flowing Ganga Canal turning into a long sheet of water and diving deep into the downstream side of the canal. Banks were being raised on both sides of the canal and we had visions of the turbulent falls getting tamed and submerged in the near future, thereby providing extra head for generation of power at Pathri Power House.
Driving further down from Ranipur, we reached Bahadrabad Powerhouse and moved on to the gangway of the powerhouse spanning across Ganga Canal. That was the place where we had landed a year back for providing the initial push for the construction of Pathri Power House and its power channel. A sleepy land lying dormant for hundreds of years had woken up and was humming with activity. Powerpit with a cladding of sheetpiles and a battery of dewatering tubewells had been dug out to the designed foundation level and was ready to receive the initial pourings of concrete. Earthmoving machines were running from end to end all along the power channel in a hurry to provide a safe and smooth transition for the flow of Ganga Canal through the power channel. Transport vehicles were busy in ferrying boulders, sand, cement, steel and other construction materials and equipment to the work site. Brick kilns were emitting dark clouds for keeping the coals burning for churning out first class bricks. The colony had taken the shape of a mini-township. Bahadarabad Powerhouse was constructed, when people did not know how to utilize hydro-electric power. Thirty years after the new powerhouse, renamed as Pathri powerhouse and with double the generating capacity was on its way to change the lives and perceptions of power hungry people.
Back to Mohammadpur: The erection work at Mohammadpur was in full swing. Turbines had been placed on the draft tubes and were ready to receive the generators. That was the time when we left Mohammadpur with a sense of satisfaction and moved on to Jaunpur, where new challenges were awaiting us.