New Delhi, March 02: The Madras high court lifted on Wednesday a ban on the supply of river water to plants of soft-drink majors Pepsi and Coca Cola in southern Tamil Nadu.
The court’s two-member Madurai bench dismissed petitions seeking a ban on water supply from the Thamairabarani river to units of Coke and Pepsi located at Gangaikondan village in Tirunelveli district– lifting an interim ban imposed last November.
The petition – filed by Tirunelveli District Consumer Protection Association secretary DA Prabhkar on Thursday — argued that the beverage giants suck up water from the river at subsidized rates, leaving farmlands parched.
The petitioner told the court the two firms gobbled up 3 million literes of water per day and asked that they be barred from exploiting natural resources. He also cited a Supreme Court ruling to argue that water should not be used for commercial purposes.
But the court asked the petitioner why he had not filed a case against other companies also drawing water.
The government advocate told the court there was sufficient water in the river and only surplus was allowed to be supplied to Coca-Cola and Pepsi.
Coca Cola and Pepsi are already facing popular wrath in Tamil Nadu with a statewide boycott of their products by thousands of shops, supermarkets and restaurants that began on Wednesday. The state’s largest trade body says the boycott is aimed at promoting local manufacturers and stopping the exploitation of natural resources.
