A lot of printer's ink, cyber space, airtime and reams of
paper have been used to describe how we Indians fail so miserably on the civic
sense front. Even cities in other third world countries like say Colombo look a
lot more cleaner than many of our metros.
Indian men's habit of chewing paan and other tobacco
supplements like gutka and spitting around with gay abandon has painted many a
town red. Their leaky bladders, which would put even dogs to shame, and their
tendency to treat every wall as urinal has ensured that we are never too far
from its reeky stench.
However so far we all thought this only takes a toll on
aesthetics of a city or village and is an assault on our sense of sight and
smell. But a recent report I came across was, quite literally, an eye opener.
Engineers say that the metal structure of Kolkata's landmark
Howrah bridge is in danger due to relentless onslaught of gutka loaded spit.
They said that "the struts supporting the girders of the bridge had
already lost half of their metal casing: The corrosion was apparently caused by
acids in the gutka."
The report said that to increase gutka’s shelf life magnesium carbonate – which is used
in fire extinguishers and is a known carcinogen – is added.
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