DESERTED CITY

Ashburton Guardian, Volume 55, Issue 293, 24 September 1935, Page 6

DESERTED CITY

QUETTA ABANDONED.

NOW A GIGANTIC TOMB. Advice received in a letter from India says that threat of plague and pestilence from the decomposing bodies buried beneath the ruins of Quetta has made imperative the evacuation of the city which used to be the pride of British Baluchistan. In official circles it is believed that nearly 40,000 people lost their lives in Quetta aione when the terrihle earthquake rocked Baluchistan, and that over an area of a hundred miles the death roll must have approached ot>,Uoo.

The evacuation of Quetta in the interests of public health adds yet one more to India’s derelict and deserted cities. New Delhi, the present seat of the Indian Government, is the fifth Delhi. The other four are represented by half-buried ruins around the present capital. They were, in turn, deserted for various reasons, and fell into decay.

The Delhi boil, a deadly form of carbuncle, and one of the most dreaded diseases in India, is supposed to have had its origin in the contamination of the water supply resulting from the refuse of the past. Ohitore, in Rajputana, however, is the most romantio of all India’s deseited places. During the great Moslem invasion, centuries ago, the Maharajah of Udaipur forbade his women-folk to enter'into marriage with the Moslem leaders, as so many other Hindu aristocrat;? had done in order to escape torture and death. The Moslems laid siege to the fortress of Ohitore, determined to seize the Hindu ladies and add them to their harems. The .struggle was long drawn, but just as the Moslems forced the citadel 300 ladies o Rajpat chose death rather than, is honour, and plunged into a blazing pi of fire that had been prepared in readiness. The victorious Moslems thought a curse had descended on Ohitore, and left it in terror. To-day it is the home of wild beasts. Its crumbling buildings, overgrown by vegetation, excite the wonder of travellers. Amber, near Jaipur, is another deserted city. Many of its white marble palaces still stand, althougn giant forest trees overshadow them and cobras and other reptiles ( have undisputed possession of apartments that once housed the pride of Rajputana. ,Southern India abounds with deserted cities. Jaianugger is the most famous, and, strangely, this place also was a scene of Moslem ferocity. In most cases, however, epidemics, famine or earthquakes were the root causes of abandonment, and once this happens the people never return. Fear prevents them. So it will be with Quetta.