One must always expect the unexpected; in this case, it’s Coca-Cola India which is currently is in some serious trouble with north Indians.
One of Coca-Cola’s plant in northern India has been shut down due to possible implications of water extraction and pollution.
The leading cola brand’s Mehdiganj plant in Varanasi was not following the terms and conditions settled which led the local authorities to put pressure on the company to demolish the plant altogether. The local village council termed it ‘illegal’.
While talking to Guardian, J.S Yadav, the member secretary of Uttar Pradesh Pollution Control Board said, “The plant is closed following our orders. They have also been asked to take suitable measures to recharge the depleting groundwater level by twice the amount they have extracted. Also, the effluents raised by the plant contain pollutants beyond permissible limits.”
Mehdiganj plant is amongst the 58 operated by Coca-Cola India, the Indian environmentalists have protested against the fast expansion of the brand for ages.
The bottling facility in the plant was expanded last year and could produce 600 polyethylene terephthalate bottles in one minute.
However, Coca-Cola claimed that that the water stewardship is the “primary focus of our sustainability efforts across our global system”.
As per BevNet Beatriz Perez, the Chief Sustainability Officer said, “By setting and working to meet out ambitious goals, we are effectively and responsibly managing the valuable resource on which our business relies.”
Earlier the company also told that it had successfully replenished almost 108.5 Billion litres of water in the different areas where their plants are functioning, with the help of 509 ‘community water projects’ in about 100 countries.
Ekocenter is one of those projects, which provides self-sustaining water distillation facility in far-flung areas of Asia, Africa and South-America.
He also added, “We have seen a pervasive uptake across the entire Coca-Cola system with 80 percent of our business units on track or ahead of pace to meet their 2020 water replenishment goals. We are proud to report that all are making progress in replenishing this important resource we share with communities and nature.”
However, it seems that India is not the targeted place in the above statements because the company is in hot waters for violation of the terms and conditions.
