It has survived West Bengal’s monsoons, being rammed by a barge and a daily flow of some 60 000 vehicles. Now the engineers who maintain the historic Howrah bridge over the Hooghly river in Kolkata say a new enemy has appeared: half-chewed mouthfuls of betel leaf, areca nut and slaked lime spat out by pedestrians.
Key struts that support the girders of the bridge have already lost half their protective metal casing to the acids contained in paan, as the mixture is known, engineers say.
There are few public structures in India that are without the tell-tale red stains from paan, which for thousands of years has been chewed throughout India as a mild stimulant, palate cleanser and breath freshener.
A series of studies has highlighted the health risks of the tons of spit and chewed leaf spewed each day on India’s already decrepit infrastructure. Forensic specialists said the lime used in paan was a particular problem as it has powerful corrosive properties.
“A safety audit [of the bridge] is now being planned to find out the effect of constant spitting,” one senior official told the Calcutta Telegraph. “The 6mm bases are now around 3mm each. If corrosion continues at such a rate, we would need to decommission the bridge for repairs.” —