Upset over the Madras High Court order allowing Pepsi and Coca Cola to draw water from the Thamirabarani river for their bottling plants in this district for manufacturing soft drinks, a large number or persons today stood in knee deep water in the river to express their ire.
The Madras High Court today allowed the cola majors to draw water from the Thamirabarani river for their bottling plants in Tirunelveli district for manufacturing soft drinks besides packaged drinking water.
The court had in November last year banned the firms from drawing water from the river.
The soft drinks companies sought a direction on lifting the ban on the ground that they were using only the surplus water in the river.
They also protested against the "laxity" on the part of the authorities in handling the case.
The protesters also shouted slogans against the state government for not taking necessary steps to prevent the carbonated water companies from drawing water from Thamirabharani, when the farmers in the was facing acute water shortage for their farming activities.
The order has come even as a call by the Traders Federation in Tamil Nadu to ban sales of Coca Cola and Pepsi soft drinks came into effect yesterday with its President A M Vikrama Raja declaring drinks as 'toxic' for consumption.
On the other hand, the Indian Beverage Association (IBA) has said that it was "deeply disappointed" by the call to boycott products manufactured by Coca-Cola and PepsiCo India in Tamil Nadu as it was against the "clarion call of Make in India”.
"IBA is deeply disappointed by the call to boycott products manufactured by Coca-Cola and PepsiCo India," the beverages body said in a statement, a day after a call by the Traders Federation in Tamil Nadu to ban sales of soft drinks came into effect.
