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Coca-Cola stirs up controversy in Mehdiganj, UP

Ritu Kadian Delhi

Despite its tag line, of thanda, cool, the multinational Coca-Cola is hot in the news in India. First the allegations by a Delhi-based green lobby that tests on 12 brands of Coca-Cola and its rival Pespi showed residue of four toxic pesticides and insecticides. Then there was the stir created over Coca-Cola’s use of groundwater at the Plachimada plant in Kerala. Now the corporate giant is facing the heat of people’s ire in Mehdiganj over a range of issues.

Mehdiganj is a village in Uttar Pradesh, about 20 km from the holy city of Varanasi, just off the Grand Trunk (GT) Road. The agitation was flagged off by a dharna (sit-in) organised under the leadership of Nandal Master (an activist of Lok Samiti) outside the Coca-Cola premises in Mehdiganj in 2006. The agitation spread to Delhi, where the Narmada Bachao Andolan (NBA) leader Medha Patkar and Magsaysay Awardee and National Alliance of People’s Movements (NAPM) leader Sandeep Pandey declared intensified agitation against coke with “National Jal Satyagraha” in September 2006 in Delhi. These groups are demanding that the government shut down the plant in Mehdiganj, Varanasi until the plant agrees to operate with responsibility.

The main cause of concern is the depletion of groundwater and its effect on livelihood. According to Pandey, "The excessive use of groundwater by the company has dried up open wells and has resulted in bore-wells going from 30 to 50 feet in this Gangetic plain. There have been three successive failed monsoons in this region and the people are finding it very difficult to meet their basic water needs. There is no water left for irrigation, fields are getting dried up and there has been loss of cultivation."

 The other issue of concern for the villagers is the dumping of sludge into the fields around the plant by the company. Medha Patkar reported, "The Central Pollution Control Board of India has examined this waste and discovered that it contains extremely high levels of lead, cadmium, chromium which are very hazardous. The dumping of the waste has polluted the soil and the groundwater in the area surrounding the plant."

The plant has also allegedly occupied 14,520 sq. ft of land illegally, which is owned by the village panchayat. The court has found the company guilty and issued notices to it to return the land. But the company has failed to do so. Within the village community are claims that the village chief had been bribed to sign documents that state that the company has returned the land.

The company is also believed to be involved in labour rights violation. Mainly all the workers working for the plant have been hired on a contract basis and receive no benefits. Employees formed a union when they discovered that Coca-Cola was paying the labour contractor Rs110 a day for their work while they were getting only Rs 72 per day. Workers allege that the company dismissed key leaders of the union who participated in the protest and has even filed false cases against them. Some of them were even given a restraining order prohibiting them from being within 300 metres of the plant. 

A letter presented to the media by the public relations manager of the Hindustan Coca-Cola, Kalyan Rajan, that was addressed to Pandey, denies all the charges made against the company and claims that their bottling plant in Mehdiganj has been awarded the "Best Organisation Award" by the UP government for providing jobs to the community. The letter went on to assert that the water table in Mehdiganj had improved and the company has data to prove that.  

But the fact remains that activists and villagers are unconvinced.