Do Away with the Polluting Cement!
Prof M. D. Apte, Pune
By the end of the Nineteenth century, the British rulers had imported 'Cement' to India and commenced discouraging the method of using freshly ground lime for masonry construction that was in vogue in India since ages. If properly used, the cement construction could be made fairly waterproof. The construction could last as well appreciably long and gave hardly any trouble of maintenance, similar to slaked lime construction to the users. The Portland cement age was dawning in India! Local industrialists as well went ahead and established cement factories here. Being a factory manufactured material it was touted to be always of uniform (and good) quality. By the end of Second World War, the fresh lime grinding as a process of preparing masonry material had been fully relegated into an historical construction activity!
By the end of the Nineteenth century, the British rulers had imported 'Cement' to India and commenced discouraging the method of using freshly ground lime for masonry construction that was in vogue in India since ages. If properly used, the cement construction could be made fairly waterproof. The construction could last as well appreciably long and gave hardly any trouble of maintenance, similar to slaked lime construction to the users. The Portland cement age was dawning in India! Local industrialists as well went ahead and established cement factories here. Being a factory manufactured material it was touted to be always of uniform (and good) quality. By the end of Second World War, the fresh lime grinding as a process of preparing masonry material had been fully relegated into an historical construction activity!
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NBM&CW November 2014
