Click to play videoPalakkad (Kerala): In Kerala, Chief Minister V S Achuthanandan's constituency, people are up in arms against cola giant Pepsi. They say the company is exploiting their ground water resources and depositing toxic solid wastes.
However, Pepsi has refuted the charge and a statement issued by the company reads:
"The allegations are completely baseless. We are operating our plant at Palakkad as per the law of the land and under the supervision of the local authorities. We deposit solid wates in a secured land fill under the guidance of the Pollution Control Board and no solid waste is deposited outside the plant."
Following complaints about Pepsi over-exploiting water, an Anti-Pepsi Cola committee was formed in April 2005 and a government study in 2007 found that the requirement of the company per day is 6 lakh liters of water, which is only available through ground water.
The Convener of the committee, K P Suresh Raj had said: "Pepsi is over exploiting water resources and also depositing solid waste including lead and cadmium. The Kerala High Court has said that only the Industrial Department and not the Panchayat can take action against Pepsi. The Kerala government should cancel the license of the company."
The local Panchayat issued a show cause notice to the company and had approached the High Court saying waste products like magnesium sulphate, cadmium and nickel, which the company emits, pose serious health hazards.
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