Amit Srivastava from the India Resource Center confirms that the Coke Plant in Sinhachawar in Ballia district of UP is being shut down. The management cites 'unbearable losses' as the reason for the shutdown. Local community rejoices.

The Dstrict Magistrate of Varanasi, Bina Kumari Mina, has initiated an investigation into the role of the Coke Bottling Plant in Mehdiganj on the drop in local water levels and high incidence of toxic chemicals around the plant site.

Over 1500 people marched to the Mehdiganj bottling plant that is operating without environmental authorization and demanded it shut down.

On October 25^th, 2007, over 600 people marched and rallied against the Coca-Cola bottling plant in the village of Sinhachawar in Ballia district (Uttar Pradesh) in India yesterday, demanding that the plant be shut down permanently.

Another Coca Cola plant in Sinhachavar, in Ballia district of Uttar Pradesh has become the center for protests as the local government body has demanded that government revoke its license to the plant.

A group of college students,  Americans of Indian origin, visited Coke's India headquarters in Delhi and Mehdiganj where local communities say they are affected by Coke's activities. A report.

Responding to a request under RTI, the GoI Hydrology department has shown that water levels in 9 out of 13 stations in Varanasi district have fallen below drought conditions; yet, the Coca Cola plant continues to pump water out of the ground.

University of Illinois is the third university this summer -- following Smith College in the U.S. and the Banaras Hindu University in India -- to have terminated its beverage contract with Coca-Cola.

In a shocking finding, another Coca-Cola bottling plant in India has been found to be operating in complete violation of environmental laws and regulations in India. Communities around this plant have begun protests at this discovery.

A study of water samples in the vicinity of the Coke plant in Mehndiganj conducted by People’s Science Institute, Dehradoon, and Hazard Center, Delhi, finds Coke responsible dangerous levels of toxic metals of Cadmium and Chromium in the groundwater.

Separate reports in Hindustan Times by PTI and by IANS suggest that effluents from the Coke plant have led to the death of between 400-500 cattle in Tirunelveli.

The march for Rights to Water has discovered more examples of effluent dumping by the Colas in Hathras and in Mathura.

As the Right to Water March goes through its third week, there has been huge support in the heartland of Northern India. The march has already passed through 7 communities in the neighborhood of bottling plants and these communities - schools and colleges, village sabhas, small town meetings - have expressed solidarity through signature campaigns and return invitations to the marchers. Under pressure from these communities, CPCB has agreed to investigate pollution dumping by Coke at its Mehdiganj plant.

Jal Adhikar Yatra (March for Right to Water) began in Mehdiganj, Varanasi, on September 10, 2006, and shall conclude in Delhi on October 5, 2006. This is led by people directly ill-effected by Coca Cola Plant in Mehdiganj who are demanding access to water and protection from indiscriminate siphoning of water by large companies.

The Center for Science and Environment have been targeted by the Coke and Pepsi and then by the Indian Government. We present this editorial by Sunita Narain that was first published in Down To Earth, CSE’s periodical on environmental issues in India.

In an interview with Nandlal on the first day of the Jal Adhikar (Right to Water) Yatra, we learn about the goals of the yatra, the importance to right to water and evidence of Coke's role in the rapidly dropping water levels in Mehdiganj.

The Jal Adhikar (Right to Water) Yatra that makes its way through communities in UP, MP and Rajasthan that are demanding respite from privatization of water, its indiscriminate overuse by for profit agencies and falling of water tables.

A study of the water tables in the communities around the Coke bottling plant shows that activities in the plant have severely affected water availablitiy in the region.

Veerendra Kumar, Member of Parliament from Kerala presents an open letter questioning the government's position vis-a-vis Coke and Pepsi, the content in their beverages and policies relating to them.

The Anticocacola struggle commitee staged a Dharna in front of Kerala Pollution Control Board DisrtictOffice Palghat 0n Sept 2. More than three hunderd people including women from Plachimada took part in the Dharna.

It is not surprising that the US government has stepped in to try and protect the interests of Coke and Pepsi in India.

Pepsi and Coke have come under intense pressure in India in the last week following another CSE investigation showing higher levels of pesticides in 11 brands of Coke and Pepsi collected from bottling plants in 25 states.

In a preliminary survey conducted by Swadesh Science Movement of India(Delhi) with in the Mehndiganj area where the Coca-Cola plant is based, the water level in the villages of Nagepur, Bhikaripur and Mehndiganj villages have decreased to 27, 43 and 32 feet respectively.

Brunda Kattekola presents an overview of the campaigns against Coke in India.

R. Ajayan, convener of Plachimada Solidarity Committee, reported that Chief Minister V.S. Achuthanandan has supported the people’s concerns and their protest of the protests of Coke and Pepsi in Kerala.

Central Pollution Control Board orders state board to investigate Coke; National awareness drive of unethical Coke policies to begin.

There has been increasing support of protests against the Colas in USA. In Europe, Coca-Cola's regional subsidiary 8.66 million euros for discriminating against retailers

The Mehdiganj dharna against the continued withdrawal of water by Coke continues past its 50th day even as the local administration has announced that water table has dropped past critical levels. On the other hand, Coca Cola company continues to spin as Times of India reports that Coke pays money to retailers to suppress reports of dirt and insects in the drinks.

People in Mehdiganj along with local groups including Lok Samiti led by Nandlal Master(r) continue their protests against the bottling plant .

With Magsasay awardee Rajendra Singh adding his voice to the protests against Pepsi and Coke and their exploitative water policies, the strike in Mehndiganj received another boost.

On the 4th anniversary of the Plachimada People�s Struggle, a community seminar including the adivasis of the affected areas came up with a water policy that would address the needs of people. Ajayan, the convener of Plachimada Solidarity Committee presents the resolution.

Coca Cola spends about 70% of its profits on media, image building and publicity. And yet, at the share holders meeting in Delaware, under pressure from a large number of global communities for its unethical practices, its wheels seemed to be coming off.

With the number of visitors dropping in to express solidarity with the Mehdiganj anti-Coke movement on hunger strike, the movement decided to have a special gathering on the 16th day of the strike.

After having argued that there was no people�s movement against Coke in Mehdiganj, it was ironic that Kalyan Ranjan, P. R. Manager of Hindustan Coca Cola Ltd., was quite eager to meet with the Mehdiganj community on the first day of their indefinite hunger strike on 23rd of March. But that was not the only irony

The local Mehdiganj community has called for a local protest against Coca Cola to begin on 23rd March.

Protesters want to do a plant visit, with police protection.

Communities around bottling plants are becoming increasingly affected by and reacting to unethical practices by Coke in India.

Coca Cola has been making claims that �their production process follows zero discharge� meaning that all their waste water was reused; �a rainwater harvesting system has been implemented that recharges ground water with more than what the company extracted� and that the waste is not hazardous. With the declaration of Perumatty Panchayat as a �notified area� by the government, once again it indicts Coca Cola for making patently false claims and promoting untruths.

Samalochana is organising a padayatra (march) urging people to stop consuming soft drinks and also mobilse peoples opinion against government accepting WTO norms in the wake of Hongkong conference in December2005.

Communities around India, most specifically in the vicinity of bottling plants, are using democratic processes through boycotts and campaigns to demand transparency of operations of Coca Cola and to demand that it stop operations if the company cannot end processes that are affecting lives and livelihoods of people in the vicinity of these plants.

Event updates from Sandeep Pandey’s US tour in 2005, describing talks, discussions, events, etc.
About Dr. Sandeep Pandey , Itinerary Details , Issues and Topics , Tour Updates

Dr Sandeep Pandey believes that empowerment of the poor is critical for development and for the functioning of democratic India. This process encompasses a wide variety of issues and while they are interconnected, we have highlighted some issues on which he will be speaking during the tour.

Martin Espada, who teaches poetry at the University of
Massachuesetts at Amherst and is the author of several books talks to CounterPunch about why he refused money from Coca Cola for his poetry reading at Kansas University.

An article in The Nation profiles a campaign that is growing rapidly in Universities across North America and even Europe demanding Coca Cola be held responsible for its human right violations.

Student groups across universities and college campuses in the USA and Europe are beginning to recognize the unethical actions of Coca Cola and passing resolutions to keep Coca Cola off their campuses.

Corporate Accountability International, along with numerous other local organizations cited Coke for its unethical practices in India

On the morning of 23rd November, 2004, at the city hall, Minneapolis, Corporate Accountability International (CAI) held a press conference highlighting the unethical behavior of the Atlanta based Coca Cola. It cited numerous instances where Coke has been draining out the water table in communities that are having trouble accessing clean drinking water.

In response to increasing demonstrations against Coca Cola, and specifically in response to march planned from November 15-24, 2004, the company put out advertisements in newspapers raising various questions.

“Kisanon ne machaya shor, Coca-cola paani chor, Doodh-dahi ke desh mein Pepsi-Coke nahin chalega.”

This is one of the slogans being used by people’s movements in Uttar Pradesh which are organizing a march and a rally to close down 2 Coca-Cola bottling plants in the state.

On June 25th, the meeting on South Asian Judicial Interaction on Environmental Justice and Equity ended with a key declaration that gives the judiciary of these South Asian nations the responsibility of protecting the biodiversity of this region and providing for environmental justice in the face of increasing environmental exploitation. What are the implications of this declaration?