Green Tribunal to hear Coke plea against UP Pollution Board tomorrow

The Board had ordered shutting down the plant for various violations, including groundwater extraction

The fate of Coca-Cola's bottling plant at Mehdiganj near Varanasi is now in the hands of the National Green Tribunal (NGT) which will hear a petition, filed by the beverages major, on Friday.

Coca-Cola has filed a petition before NGT against the order of the Uttar Pradesh Pollution Control Board leading to closure of one of the bottling plants of the American soft-drink company. The UP Pollution Control Board had ordered shutting down the plant for various violations, including groundwater extraction, which has caused problems for Coca-Cola earlier as well.

According to a company official, the company is now waiting for the NGT order. NGT's decision would clarify if the company should not run the plant or if the cited order was a wrong decision, added the source.

In February last year, villagers from around Mehdiganj, about 25 km from Varanasi, had asked the government to reject the cola major's application for expansion citing that it would further worsen the water conditions in the area.

Coke's bottling plant in Mehdiganj, which was operational from 1999, has reportedly caused severe damage on groundwater resources. Over-exploitation and pollution of groundwater and the soil were the key reasons cited by the activists.

According to media reports, groundwater levels in Mehdiganj have dropped 7.9 meters (26 feet) in the 11 years since Coca-Cola started bottling operations there. Other reports in 2011 suggest that Coca-Cola's bottling operations in Kala Dera for over 10 years have caused dip in the groundwater levels.

These were not the only cases. The soft drinks major had faced several protests in the past regarding water issues in India. The biggest in the lot was protests in Kerala. In March 2004, local officials in Kerala shut down a $16 million bottling plant as it had caused drastic decline in availability and quality of water.

In April 2005, Kerala High Court had rejected water use claims, pointing out that wells in Kerala continued to dry up in summer, months after the local Coke bottling unit stopped operations. However, this followed a scientific study, as per the Court's directive, which revealed that while the Coke bottling unit had 'aggravated the water scarcity situation,' the 'most significant factor' was a lack of rainfall.

Coca-Cola was also blamed for being responsible for creating problems for communities by creating water shortages and polluting the groundwater and soil in Plachimada, Kerala. The protests started soon after Coca-Cola started its bottling unit in 1999.