Experts say Indian bridge faces collapse due to smokers spitting acid
Howrah Bridge in India. (File photo)
India's love of chewing a hybrid tobacco product called Gutkha is not only posing a serious health threat to the country's people. The saliva that people spit out after chewing Gutkha cigarettes has a high concentration of acid and even threatens to corrode the country's landmark Howrah Bridge.
Indian engineers say that the Howrah Bridge is in danger of collapsing because people appear to have used several of the bridge's pillars as convenient spittoons in recent years, and the spit from people chewing Gutkha cigarettes is eroding the bridge's pillars.
After investigation, it was found that half of the metal skin on the outside of several pillars supporting the Howrah Bridge bridge has been corroded on average, and the culprit is the saliva "containing high concentration of acid" spit out by Indian people after chewing Gutkha smoke.
Gutkha is a stimulant packed in a plastic box, containing crushed betel nut, tobacco, paraffin and other secret ingredients, many of which contain carcinogenic and addictive properties. (International Channel)