On this 20th anniversary of Bhopal, there is another kind of destruction that we must turn our attention to � the extensive pumping out of millions of liters of water from hundreds of sites around the world, primarily by Coca Cola and Pepsi.

While we commemorate the death of tens of thousands owing to the gas leak in Bhopal 20 years ago, on December 4th, we also resolve that as a global community we will remain alert to instances of unethical behavior by corporations that pollute our environment and destroy communities. In this context, many organizations in India and in the USA continue to remind Dow that it is responsible for the continuing deaths and suffering of people in Bhopal as well as for the cleanup at the plant site and of the water table in the area around the plant site.

On this 20th anniversary of Bhopal, there is another kind of destruction that we must turn our attention to � the extensive pumping out of millions of liters of water from hundreds of sites around the world, primarily by Coca Cola and Pepsi. Estimates suggest that a bottle of the beverage needs three bottles of water. In India, communities living around bottling plants in Kerala, Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh have already begun to complain about the rapidly dropping water tables in the area. BBC presenter John Waite visited the plant in South West India following complaints from villagers that water was drying up in the area due to the massive quantities required by Coca-Cola. Villagers, politicians, environmentalists and scientists have accused Coca-Cola of robbing the community of the area's most precious resource. The High Court in Kerala has already asked Coke to shut down its bottling plant in Plachimada.

The Coke bottling plant in Mehdiganj, Uttar Pradesh (UP) in North India, has been the scene of more controversy. This bottling plant has had charges of unethical accounting practices that allowed Coke to misrepresent numbers and not pay about $400,000 as excise. The courts discovered this misrepresentation and fined the company by the same amount. Coke has not paid this amount up to this date. Earlier this year, villagers from the Mehdiganj area protested in a non-violent against the dumping of plant waste as fertilizers. They also pointed out that the water table was being rapidly depleted. During the rally, security personnel from the bottling plant attacked and seriously injured protestors outside the plant site � those included three women and a few men. Over 100 protestors were subsequently arrested.

BBC reports that �Waste product, promoted by a Coca-Cola plant as a fertiliser, has been found to contain a known carcinogen� and �Analysis of the black sludge-like material, conducted at the University of Exeter, reveals that not only was it useless as a fertiliser but it contained a number of toxic metals, including cadmium and lead�. The report adds that �the contamination has spread to the water supply - with levels of lead in a near-by well at levels well above those set by the World Health Organisation.� The levels of toxins found in the samples of waste taken by the BBC would cause serious problems - polluting the land, local water supplies and the food chain.

The Center for Science and Environment, an environmental watch group based in India also found high levels of pesticides in the beverage itself. These findings were confirmed by an independent lab as well as by the Joint Parliamentary Committee of the Indian Parliament.

Instead of addressing these issues, Coca Cola has embarked on a PR campaign. Coca Cola, on its India website, claims to be running outreach programs on watershed management. These claims are based on the fact that Coca Cola sponsored 5 � five � farmers for training in watershed management. More recently, the elected official of the village has also denied that Coke has performed �public service� in the village, as the company claims, and has further demanded that the government revoke the license. Coke�s campaigns are based on similar half-truths. On its India website, it says that the courts in India have ruled that its waste is not contaminated. In fact, the court has found appreciable levels of cadmium, zinc, lead among other toxic metals in its waste. While the levels are below that of hazardous solid waste, the court has noted that these are toxic solids and must be treated by the plant as such and NOT be distributed to farmers.

While Coke continues to steal, dump and spin, communities in India are protesting. A peace march was organized earlier this month from one bottling plant in Ballia (UP) to another in Mehdiganj to raise awareness of Coke�s actions and its implications. Coke started an aggressive campaign in newspapers and through the distribution of fliers along the route of the march. A public meeting organized by the campaign was violently disrupted by approximately 20 young men who had fliers and other publicity material from Coke. Over 350 people from the rally were arrested even before they could reach the Mehdiganj plant. The arrests have however led to spontaneous rallies against Coke all over UP.

In another innovative campaign, farmers in Andhra Pradesh in South Eastern India have started a campaign where they claim that Pepsi and Coke are the most effective pesticides they have found. Both companies have maintained that they are not aware of such properties of the beverage.

Despite public outcry, Coke continues its unethical practices, draining huge quantities of water every day while farmers are seriously affected by dropping water tables, and dumping its solid waste as fertilizers. Beyond PR measures, it has done nothing to address these issues. Given that the image of these companies affect the sales of these non-essential, unhealthy beverages, it is imperative to present this face of the companies to the international community.

Corporate Accountability International (CAI) has begun a campaign to present this face of Coca Cola through events in university campuses and communities around the USA. In a press release, CAI has claimed that while Coke is more careful in disposing its solid waste, its practice of draining millions of liters around bottling plants is causing depletion of water tables in the USA as well. In the US, too, communities around these plants will be affected by water scarcity. Given the local and international effects of practices by Coke and Pepsi, it is imperative now that groups in the USA focused on issues of environment, and on social justice begin to join in this campaign, tying it to issues of health, nutrition, environment and justice.

Related Articles and Links:
BBC page
Corporate Accountability International
India Resource Center
March and Rally to Shut Down Coca-Cola Plants in Uttar Pradesh
Water: to privatize or not to privatize