Coca-Cola forced to close India bottling factory over excessive water use, pollution
Article link/ credit: https://www.rt.com/news/167012-coca-cola-factory-closed-india/ Years of protests have forced Indian officials to finally close a Coca-Cola bottling factory in the northern province of Uttar Pradesh for extracting groundwater above legal limits and polluting the environment with toxic effluents. Tags Natural resources , Health , Protest , India Coca-Cola’s Mehdiganj plant in Varanasi used to pump too much fresh water from the underground water table, a practice that has led to groundwater levels in the area dropping to critical levels. This infuriated local residents mostly employed in agriculture, who are suffering from scarce water resources. The plant has also been accused of discharging effluents, containing excessive levels of pollutants, thus damaging the environment. The battle to close the factory has been marked with a number of dramatic protests staged by local farmers. One protest, in 2006, lasted for over three months an...