Condoms find new uses in India

CONDOMS FIND NEW USES IN INDIA

We'll need it tonight, honey, the roof is leaking.

THE aim of the whole exercise was to combat Aids and control population
growth.

But millions of condoms distributed free in India are being used for
waterproofing roofs, reinforcing roads and even polishing saris.

In fact, only a quarter of the 1.5 billion condoms manufactured annually in
India were being 'properly utilised', said a report by doctors at King
George's Medical University in Lucknow.

Health workers said millions of condoms were also melted down and made into
toys, reported The Telegraph.

Two university reports say that in rural areas villagers have used them as
disposable water containers for washing, after relieving themselves in the
fields.

The Indian army uses them to cover gun and tank barrels to protect them
from corrosive dust.

Of the 891 million condoms meant to be handed out free, a considerable
number is acquired by building contractors who mixed them with concrete and
tar and used the mixture to build roads.

This special blend reportedly renders road surfaces smooth and resistant to
cracks.

A large number of condoms were also used as waterproofing for roofs.

Builders spread a bed of condoms beneath the roof's cement plastering,
ingeniously preventing water seepage during the monsoons.

Weavers in Varanasi, a traditional centre for manufacturing exquisite silk
saris, use about 200,000 condoms a day to lubricate their looms and to
polish the gold and silver thread used to embroider the saris. The condoms
reportedly give the threads a gossamer-like sheen.

The Indian government began distributing free condoms in the 1960s to slow
down its galloping population growth. After four decades of free
distribution, the population of Indiastood at 1.029 billion at the last
census in 2001.

Now we know why.