Termites Infest Piles Of Important Government Documents

Several decades ago, before computers became common, records could not be stored electronically; instead, paper records were inconveniently stored in various locations. Some of these locations contain old government documents. These documents are often stored to capacity; the seemingly endless stacks of paper seem to reach ceilings in some buildings. As you can imagine, these massive amounts of documents can become vulnerable to the elements, and termites. It is not uncommon to discover termite infestations within record-storage facilities. A large structure that is filled to the brim with tons and tons of paper is a termite’s dream come true. This is because, like wood and plants, paper contains the cellulose that termites require. Record-storage facilities can become hotbeds for termite activity since these facilities are rarely inspected. These facilities are normally isolated and they almost never see a human presence. This is why in the past, several government and private documents have been completely destroyed by hungry termites in countries located all over the world. Termites are hugely problematic within the country of India, as a fire station that is located in Ahmedabad has been found with a long-running termite infestation. The documents that are being kept at the station are very important, as some ongoing legal cases require documents that are kept within the fire station. In order to correct this situation, government officials within the province are in a mad dash to transfer all of the documented information onto computer systems before termites eat highly sensitive documents. This is not the first time that termits have destroyed important records in India. Back in 2015, termites infested a storage facility containg a plethora of documented information that relates to death penalty cases. The penal records dated back to the 1940s, and even today, prison officials are attempting to locate prisoner records for ongoing court cases. A New Delhi University legal researcher has recently learned that the termite-infested documents provide insufficient information for his planned academic paper. This paper was going to detail India’s substantial history of capital punishment, but now this history has become termite food.

Have you ever owned a book, or several books that had become damaged by termite activity?