The “month-long massive awareness programme” launched by various trade bodies in Tamil Nadu from February 1 to educate consumers about the ill-effects of soft drinks manufactured by multi-national giants and the call to retail traders not to sell such colas from March 1 has come a cropper, if initial reports are any indication. It was AM Vikramaraja, president of Associations of Tamil Nadu Merchants who declared on January 25 that the colas would disappear from Tamil Nadu shops from March 1.
Most shops in Chennai continue to stock Pepsi, Coca Cola and all related products. “The demand was made on January 25 and public memory is short. leaders of the trade bodies themselves forgot the call,” said Nawab, a shop keeper in Porur, a city suburb who continues selling branded soft drinks and aerated water. “They would have struck some deal with the manufacturers,” he said.
The scenario was not different in other parts of Tamil Nadu. Indumathi, a housewife, who was shopping in two super markets in Coimbatore on Thursday said she did not notice any fall in the sales of soft drinks manufactured by the MNC cola companies. “The shelves are well stocked with all kind of colas in the shops I made my purchases,” said Indumathi over telephone from Coimbatore.
Bhanumathi Swaminathan, a banker housewife in Madurai said that the colas are reigning supreme in the temple city. “There was a message in the social media that the MNC drinks are available in the shops and it was for the consumers to shun them,” said Bhanumathi.
The soft drink manufacturers Pepsi and Coca Cola got a shot in the arm on Thursday with the Madras High Court dismissing a series of public interest litigations demanding the discontinuation of water supply to the Tirunelveli plants of these companies from Thamarabharani River.
A division bench of Justices A Selvam and P Kalaiyarasannot only dismissed the series of PIls but also vacated an interim injunction granted by the court in November 2016 restraining the Small Industries Promotion Corporation of Tamil Nadu (SIPCOT) from supplying water to the bottling units of these companies at the Industrial Growth Centre in Tirunelveli.
The judges asked the petitioners why they were not filing PIls against other companies in the Industrial Growth Centre which were consuming more water than what was being consumed by Pepsi and Coke bottling plants.
“Why are you not attacking other industries which consume more water than these bottling plants of the multi-national companiesIJ Why have you adopted a pick and choose methodIJ” asked Justice Selvam.
The SIPCOT, in its counter affidavit, told the court that it had committed to supply South India Bottling Company limited with 9 lakh litres water per day. But the company had utilised only 2.63 litres water per day during 2016 to 2017. Pratishta Business Solutions, another company which set up packaging unit in SIPCOT’s IGC had been offered 15 lakh litres of water per day. But the company had used only 3.41 lakh litres water per day during 2016 to 2017, according to the SIPCOT affidavit.