Kerala - Thiruvananthapuram   

Coca-Cola claims questioned

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Plachimada Samara Aikyadartya Samithi, an environmental group campaigning against Coca-Cola, on Wednesday said that the soft-drink giant had gained nothing by getting the Energy and Resource Institute (TERI) to undertake a study on its operations in India.

In a statement here samithi convener R. Ajayan said that Coca-Cola had started using the TERI report to absolve itself of the charges against its operations in the country. It was doing this by interpreting in its own way the contents of the report.

He said Coca-Cola’s decision to get a “third party study” done by an institution that “enjoyed its sponsorship” had created a lot of protest in the country. Even so, the report of the Delhi-based TERI, released on Tuesday, did not give the company a clean certificate as was being made out by “propagandists.”

“Though the report glosses over many facts, because of the compulsion to sound scientifically credible, it does not go to the extent of sanctifying Coca-Cola. The report notes that water scarcity and pollution are serious problems in every place where the company operated its bottling plants. The report also recommends either the shifting or the closure of the company’s bottling plant at Kaladera in Rajasthan,” Mr. Ajayan said.

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