Coca-Cola in India

Coca-Cola Threatens Top Indian Photographer with Lawsuit


For Immediate Release
July 12, 2005

Contact:
Amit Srivastava, India Resource Center E: [email protected]
T: +44 7731 865 591 (UK) +1 415 336 7584 (US)

London (July 12, 2005): The Hindustan Coca-Cola Beverages Private Limited, a subsidiary of the Atlanta based Coca-Cola company, has threatened Mr. Sharad Haksar, one of India's celebrated photographers, with a lawsuit.

Mr. Haksar, a leading international photographer and winner of the 2005 Cannes Silver Lion, has placed a large billboard in one of Chennai's busiest areas - one of India's largest cities - with his own "work (which) is solely an expression of creativity."


Billboard in Chennai Credit: Sharad Haksar

The billboard features the ubiquitous red Coca-Cola wall painting, commonly found across India. Directly preceding the Coca-Cola ad, and part of the billboard, is a dry water hand-pump, with empty vessels waiting to be filled up with water - a common scene in India, particularly in Chennai.

On July 11, 2005, the law firm of Daniel & Gladys, who represent Coca-Cola's Indian subsidiary, sent a letter to Mr. Haksar threatening him with serious legal actions unless the billboard was replaced 'unconditionally and immediately'. Coca-Cola would seek Indian Rupees 2 million (US$ 45,000) for "incalculable damage to the goodwill and reputation" of Coca-Cola, and also sought an 'unconditional apology in writing'.

Mr. Haksar said, "I have no intentions of issuing any apology. Because I have not committed anything wrong. If Coke pursues this legal course, my lawyers shall take appropriate counter action."

Mr. Haksar's billboard highlights the severe water shortages being experienced by communities that live around Coca-Cola's bottling plants across India. A community close to Chennai, in Gangaikondan, has already held large protests - protesting against an upcoming Coca-Cola plant. In the neighboring state of Kerala, in the village of Plachimada, Coca-Cola has been unable to open its bottling facility for the last 16 months - because the community will not allow it to.

Coca-Cola is in serious trouble in India. A massive rural movement has emerged to hold the company accountable for creating water shortages and polluting the remaining water and soil.

"We appreciate Mr. Haksar's efforts and we condemn Coca-Cola's attempts to silence a public discourse on the issues," said Amit Srivastava of the international campaigning organization, India Resource Center. The campaign continues to receive tremendous public support internationally and has put the Coca-Cola company on the defensive.

The recently held Live - 8 concerts pulled out with negotiations with Coca-Cola over sponsorships because of public opposition, spearheaded by the India Resource Center. Coca-Cola was also banned from the Make Poverty History March as a result, on July 2, 2005, a march of close to 300,000 people in Edinburgh in Scotland.

Mr. Haksar's work can be viewed at www.sharadhaksar.com

For more information, visit www.IndiaResource.org

---ends---

Allegations that The Coca-Cola Company is exploiting groundwater in India are without any scientific basis and are also not supported either by the Government authorities who regulate our water use in India, academics, or the local communities in which our plants are located.

We believe the allegations are motivated more by an anti-globalisation agenda, rather than by those with genuine environmental concerns. Any fact-based discussion of this issue would reveal that there is no basis for the allegations.
Firstly, the issue needs to be kept in perspective. In India, the beverage industry is responsible for just 0.002% of total water usage.


Secondly, the beverage industry is one of the most efficient users of water, out of any industry in India


A typical Coca-Cola plant uses just two or three bore wells for its water needs and extracts that water with pumps of a similar capacity as those used by other industries and farmers in the same community.


Within approximately five kilometers of the Kerala plant, for example, there are about 200 open shallow wells. Coca-Cola uses only 2 open shallow wells within the plant. In the same area there are nearly 150 bore wells. There are only 6 bore wells within our plant and the Coca-Cola plant uses no more than 3 bore wells at any one time


Further, The Coca-Cola Company in India has been recognized for its community programs and environmental practices by prominent global organizations such as the Red Cross and has won prestigious Indian environmental awards for environmental practices.


The rainwater harvesting technology it has established at many locations (including the plants at Plachimada in Kerala, Kaledera in Rajasthan and Varanassi in Uttar Pradesh).


State Government figures have confirmed that since a Coca-Cola plant has been built, in some areas (including Kaladera in Rajasthan) groundwater levels have shown lower levels of depletion than other areas and in some areas (including Varanassi in UP) water levels have actually risen since the plants were built. We believe this is due, in part, to the rainwater harvesting technology employed at these plants


In Kerala, where ground water levels have certainly decreased, the rainfall has been well below average for several years. The Kerala State Ground Water Department has said that any depletion in ground water was due to poor rainfall and could not be attributed to the plant. The Central Ground Water Authorities have also confirmed there were no abnormal changes in groundwater levels around the plant that can be attributed to the Coca-Cola operation. Most recently the interim report of the Centre for Water Resources Development & Management groundwater depletion and the Coca-Cola plant in Kerala.
Coca-Cola is one of the few companies in India to have made any contribution to recharging groundwater in India and uses less water, more efficiently, than many other industries in India and yet a small number of politically motivated groups have still chosen to target just The Coca-Cola Company, using the Coca-Cola brand name for the furtherance of their own anti-multi-national agendas.