The Hindu : National : Rally planned to demand ban on sale of soft drinks

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Dec 15, 2004

National

National

Rally planned to demand ban on sale of soft drinks

By Our Special Correspondent

JAIPUR, DEC. 14. Civil rights and voluntary groups spearheading a campaign against the bottling plant of the multinational soft drinks giant Coca-Cola at Kaladera in Rajasthan will hold a public rally here on December 17 to demand a ban on the sale of soft drinks and applaud a recent judgment of the Rajasthan High Court asking cola manufacturers to print on the bottles the extent of pesticide residues in the beverage.

The Supreme Court early this month upheld the High Court verdict and directed two soft drink giants — Coca-Cola and Pepsi — to approach the High Court within two weeks for a clarification about the manner in which the pesticide contents are to be displayed on the containers. The apex court observed that the concern in Rajasthan stemmed from the public interest and ``we do not see anything unreasonable or unconstitutional in the High Court order.''

The Rajasthan Jan Sangharsh Samiti, constituted to launch protest against the alleged extraction of a ``colossal amount'' of groundwater by Coca-Cola in Kaladera — 30 km from here — welcomed the judicial intervention, saying the time had come to enforce a complete prohibition on their sale and advertisement and cancel their licences.

The Samiti's convener and president of the Rajasthan Samagra Seva Sangh, Sawai Singh, and a Jain saint of Madhya Pradesh, Muni Vinay Sagar, told the mediapersons here today that people at large had been affected by the multinationals, as also indigenous industries.

Muni Vinay Sagar — who is in the forefront of a similar campaign at Mandideep in Madhya Pradesh — said the battle against the soft drinks giants had gained momentum after the closure of Coca-Cola's Plachimada plant in Kerala and the movements had started at places such as Sivaganga (Tamil Nadu), Mehandiganj (Uttar Pradesh), Kaladera and Mandideep.

He said the lakhs of soft drinks bottles were seized from godowns in Bhopal, Indore and Jabalpur on orders of the Madhya Pradesh High Court.

However, the two companies have denied that their drinks pose any health hazards.

Their lawyers have said in the Supreme Court that no pesticide was added to the soft drinks in the manufacturing process and it was the extensive use of pesticides in agriculture that had resulted in a high degree of their presence in the sugar.

Mr. Sawai Singh said that a large number of concerned citizens, students, farmers and social activists would participate in the rally.

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