Coca-Cola in the drink

Recently, hundreds of activists in Varanasi protested the polluting of groundwater and agricultural land by the soft drinks megacorp. And 25 universities in the US, Canada and the UK are refusing to do business with the Coca-Cola Company, citing its India operations. Can Coke ever soften this up?

By Yatish Yadav

The day hundreds of activists gathered around the collector's office in Varanasi to protest what they called the "illegal activities of Coca-Cola", the company announced that it would restore the Lehartara Pond, historically linked to the sage Kabir, from its domain to public use. It was a great public relation reaction from a multinational company that has often been in the news for all the wrong reasons, not the least of which are allegations that it has been polluting groundwater and agricultural land, harming the lives and livelihoods of tens of thousands of people.

In its press release, the company said, "We as a company are conscious of our concern and responsibilities towards environment and water. It is best reflected through our initiatives." Villagers and activists fighting a battle to restore the groundwater level to a semblance of pre-Coca-Cola levels refuse to be mollified.

In a letter delivered to Vina Kumari Meena, district magistrate, Varanasi, the people of 20 villages highlighted the galloping water shortages in the area and pollution of the groundwater and land, all of it, they say, directly as a result of Coca-Cola's bottling operations in Mehdiganj. The letter specifically asked for the closure of the Coca-Cola bottling plant in Mehdiganj.

Data from the Central Ground Water Board clearly states that groundwater levels have dropped in the area since Coca-Cola started operations here in 1999. Pre- monsoon groundwater levels have dropped from 6.64 metres in 1999 to 8.34 m in 2005, or two metres in just six years."When people themselves do not have enough water to meet their basic water needs, why should Coca-Cola be allowed to siphon off hundreds of thousands of litres of water every day?" says Nandlal Master of Lok Samiti, the primary group spearheading the campaign to close Coca-Cola's bottling plant in Mehdiganj and other areas.

After testing the sludge at Coca-Cola's bottling plant at Mehdiganj in 2003, the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) of India ordered the company to treat its effluvium as industrial hazardous waste. The CPCB had found excessive levels of lead, cadmium and chromium. Prior to the CPCB order, the Coca-Cola Company had been distributing its sludge to farmers in the area as "fertiliser".
A subsequent study in October 2006 by the People's Science Institute and the Hazards Centre found that both the water and soil in the area had been contaminated with heavy metals as a result of Coca-Cola's indiscriminate dumping of waste.

"It is a sad day when the Coca-Cola company announces a US$ 20 million project to supposedly conserve water around the world, while at the same time destroying the lives and livelihoods of thousands of farmers and their environment in India as a result of their abuse of water resources and pollution," says Amit Srivastava of the India Resource Centre. "Not cleaning up their act locally and announcing multimillion [dollar] projects internationally is an attempt by the Coca-Cola Company to paint a green image of itself that it clearly is not. It's greenwash."

Yet another Coca-Cola bottling plant has been found to be operating in complete violation of environmental laws and regulations in India. On June 3, a fact-finding team led by 20 people of village Sinhachawar in Balia district found widespread toxic waste from a Coca-Cola bottling plant owned by the Ladhani Group of Companies, which runs Brindavan Bottlers Ltd for Coca-Cola.

The Ladhani Group is the single largest bottler in India for Hindustan Coca-Cola Beverages Private Limited. The villagers alleged that Brindavan Bottlers illegally acquired village panchayat land for their project. The waste treatment plant is not functioning, and all the wastewater runs into a canal that finally debouches into the Ganga. This water finds its way into the fields, harming the vegetable crop. The villagers also complained about a steep water-level drop in the handpumps and village wells. The pollutants, which leach into the groundwater and the agricultural lands, make the land unfit for agriculture and the water unfit for agriculture as well as consumption.

"Coca-Cola's track record in India is indicative of an arrogant company that operates with impunity," says Srivastava. Its India workings seem to have put Coca-Cola's reputation on the block worldwide. The prestigious Smith College in the US ended a five-decade relationship with the Coca-Cola Company, announcing that it would no longer do business with the soft drink giant because of concerns in India. More than 20 colleges and universities in the US have taken similar actions.

A letter from Carol T Christ, Smith College president, addressed to Diana Garza, Director Issues Management, Coca-Cola North America, categorically says, "In light of Coca-Cola's business practices in Colombia and India, Smith will preclude Coca-Cola from the list of approved bidders when we enter the contract renewal process later this summer." The letter also tells Garza that Coca-Cola must take significant steps toward more responsible business practices across all realms of its operations. Coca-Cola's current seven-year contract with Smith College expires on August 31.

In the past six months, 25 universities in the US, Canada and the UK, including the University of Michigan, the University of Guelph in Canada, and the University of Manchester in England, have all taken actions to remove Coca-Cola from their campuses.

But, instead of correcting its actions, Coca-Cola officials call the mass withdrawals "a rumour". "We are focusing on water because this is where Coca-Cola can have a real and positive impact," Coca-Cola chairperson and CEO E Neville Isdell told a gathering of environmental advocates.
But, says Gopal Krishna, a noted environmental activist, "It's a crisis management effort. Putting some amount of money to position

themselves as a real caretaker of the environment is intended to show that Coke is wrapping up all its misdeeds around the world."