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LATEST NEWS UPDATES | Coca-Cola plans to expand its bottling plant in water-stressed area-Omar Rashid

Coca-Cola plans to expand its bottling plant in water-stressed area-Omar Rashid

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published Published on Apr 20, 2013   modified Modified on Apr 20, 2013
-The Hindu

 

Locals allege Coca-Cola is to blame for the rising water crisis in the area

Varanasi: Holding it responsible for the aggravation of water crisis in the area, village councils here have opposed Coca-Cola's plans of expanding its existing bottling plant at Mehdiganj, 20 km from here, and called on the government to stop the company's current groundwater extraction.

Fifteen panchayats or village councils here have asked the Central Ground Water Authority (CGWA) and the Uttar Pradesh Pollution Control Board (UPPCB) to reject Coca-Cola's application for expansion. Coca-Cola had applied to the CGWA and the UPPCB to increase its groundwater usage from the current 50,000 cubic metres annually to 2,50,000 cubic metres for its bottling plant in Mehdiganj.

Pointing out that since Coca-Cola started its bottling operations there in 1999, groundwater resources had fallen sharply - dropping 7.9 metres (26 feet) - the panchayats said the company should halt its current ground water extraction as well.

The panchayats also noted the negative impact the ‘over-extraction' by the bottling plant was having on the area's groundwater resources, making access to drinking and farming water difficult for the community.

Since hand pumps, wells, bore wells and ponds in the area have dried up, the government had to declare the area's groundwater resources as critical. Moreover, due to the water scarcity, the authorities have banned the installation of all new government hand pumps and bore wells. The affected villages, located within a five-kilometre radius of the bottling plant, : Mehndiganj, Bhikaripur, Dholapur, Deora, Bhadrashi, Nagepur, Benipur, Kallipur, Chandapur, Kachariya, Monglavir, Bhabaniyav, Rakhona, Kundariya and Ganeshpur.

"Grave injustice"

"There is grave injustice taking place here as villages and farmers are left without water while Coca-Cola continues to mine groundwater, and that too for profit. Communities have primary rights over groundwater, and we have decided that it is in the best interest of the communities to not allow Coca-Cola to expand, and put an end immediately to its current groundwater use," said sarpanch of Nagepur panchayat, Mukesh Kumar.

In Arajiline block, where the company's factory is located, the Central Ground Water Board (CGWB), India's primary groundwater monitoring institution, in 2009 declared groundwater resources as "critical."


The Hindu, 20 April, 2013, http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/cocacola-plans-to-expand-its-bottling-plant-in-waterstressed-area/article4635897.ece


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