Coke caught in the pollution control net

| 13 April 1999 10:21 IST

Soft drink multinational baron Coca Cola's mega plant in Goa has come into trouble at the commencement stage itself, for starting production without fulfilling conditions of the state pollution board.

The company officials refuse to talk in this regard except admission of the fact that the production has started. "It is a trial production", claims the official, while also admitting that the board officials have visited the plant.

Chief Secretary Seva Ram Sharma, who is now the chairman of the Goa State Pollution Control Board, also surprisingly refuses to divulge any information, except the fact that the decision on granting environmental clearance has been deferred.

The mega plant worth Rs 30 crore of Hindustan Coca Cola Bottling South West Pvt Ltd, situated in 25 acres of land at the Verna Electronic City, has completed its construction in record time so that they could meet requirement of summer season.

However, it is learnt that the multinational has started production under the pretext of trial production and even paid the excise duty for taking out the bottles in the market even before the environmental clearance could be sought from the GSPCB.

The Coke company had sent its proposal for seeking clearance for the use of treated effluent, half of which has to be used for re-circulation within the factory premises for cooling and the rest of gardening. The plant has been permitted to utilise 32 lakh litres of water per day.

The GSPCB meeting held last week, chaired by the state chief secretary himself, decided to reinspect the plant when the officials came to know about the production being started without environmental clearance. "We have deferred the decision", admits Sharma, but refuses to tell why.

The company is also unable to utilise the filtered water supplied by state PWD as it affects all the other existing multinational electronic and pharmaceutical units at Verna. The soft drink multinational is now reportedly getting water from an open well, which then goes through the process of filtration plant.

A team of high officials of the state pollution control board inspected the Coke unit today morning, a report of which is expected to be discussed by Friday at the board meeting. The issue may however take a serious turn if the company is actually found to have started commercial production without seeking the consent, state the sources in the GSPCB.

The plant had already become a controversy in the tourist state earlier with 175 local bottlers demanding that the mega plant be stopped as it has been granted several concessions including sales tax exemption for 12 years, unlike the local bottling plants, which could eat into the local market on the count of having reduced price range.

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