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Coca-Cola Company's constant unreasonable environmental litigation in India has brought new troubles. On August 19, 2005, Rajmohan, Chairman of the Pollution Control Committee of Kerala State in southern India, ordered the soft drink giant to immediately close a large bottling plant in the state on the grounds of "non-compliance with environmental regulations".
This bottling plant is located in Mada Village, Placci, southern Kerala, and it is one of the 27 largest bottling plants of Coca-Cola Company in India. This factory mainly fills mineral water and soft drinks, including Coca-Cola drinks. The village committee of Mada village in Placci has been protesting, accusing the factory of overusing groundwater, which has led to the depletion of local water resources.
Rajmohan told the Associated Press 19: "The factory has no proper waste treatment system, and the sewage discharged by this factory affects the drinking water of neighboring villages." According to him, this branch of Coca-Cola refused to disclose the cadmium content in the pollutants, and the Pollution Control Committee issued a notice of closure on the same day.
The management of Coca-Cola Company did not immediately respond to this. Prior to this, the factory had been closed for nearly 16 months because the village committee refused to renew the business license. However, in June this year, the Kerala High Court rejected the village committee's request to permanently close the factory.
On June 5th, 2009, Mada Village, Placci welcomed the decision of Kerala Pollution Control Committee. Krishnan, head of the village committee, said: "For more than two years, we have been fighting to close this factory. We are glad that the government has finally done justice for the people affected by the factory."
In 1980s and 1990s, Neville Estelle, then Chairman and CEO, led Coca-Cola to enter Indian, Russian and Eastern European markets with high profile, thus spreading an unparalleled distribution network around the world. But at that time, many people only saw the huge market potential of the undeveloped South Asian subcontinent, but lacked understanding of the hidden risks of Coca-Cola.
India is a country with a long history and profound cultural heritage, and its domestic resistance to the tide of globalization is also very strong. Many business strategies that have been tried and tested in western countries may not work here, which also makes Coca-Cola's operation in India often encounter difficulties.
Take 2003 as an example. During this year, Coca-Cola successively experienced the "Poisonous Coke Storm" that "the drinks contain toxic chemicals such as pesticides" and the environmental protection lawsuit that was accused of "overusing local water resources and forcing villagers to give up agricultural cultivation". Filling plants everywhere are often harassed by local villagers' demonstrations.
In addition, some extreme environmentalists in India who regard western goods as a scourge have also launched a campaign to boycott Coca-Cola and advocate domestic products. Their slogan is "Don't drink Coca-Cola, drink coconut milk; Do not eat snow and roads, eat well water; If you buy a car, only buy a domestic car. " At present, this movement has spread all over India and has considerable influence among ordinary people.