Madurai: The Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court on Thursday dismissed two PILs filed against supply of Thamirabarani water in the manufacture of the two popular colas of American multinational corporations.
The order also removed the interim stay passed by this court in November 2016 banning the co-packers of Pepsi and Coca-Cola from using the water from the river for their bottling plant. While the division bench comprising Justice A. Selvam and P. Kalai-yarasan in the order charged one of the PIL petitioners — DA Prabakar, secretary of the Tirunelveli District Consumer Protection Association — for approaching the court with malafide intention for vindictive enmity, they also recorded their anguish against the government for not taking steps to improve the irrigation system during the last 70 years after independence to avoid the surplus outflow of Thamirabarani river water into the sea.
“Even after micro level study and recommendations to conserve the surface water in the upper reaches by forming new tanks/ponds according to the topography of the area to avoid surplus outlet into the seas as well as transferring the surplus water of Thamirabarani basin to adjoining basins, nothing has moved.”
The managing director of South India Bottling Co (P) Ltd, co-packers for Coca-Cola Company, SIPCOT Industrial Growth Centre, Gangaikondan village, Tirunelveli, in his counter, told the court that Prabakar, who was dealing with the company’s cases for nearly three years, was removed from service for unethical practices.
He had since then been filing petitions against them before various forums and also in National Green Tribunal, South Zone to settle personal grievances, and his writ petition does not involve any issue of public interest. Considering this, while the court condemned Prabakar it also observed that PIL shouldn’t be allowed to be misused for enmity.
Prathishta Business Solution Pvt. Ltd, the co-packer of Pepsi Cola Company and South India Bottling Company, were operating in 30 acres each in Gangaikondan SIPCOT after signing a contract for a period of 99 years with the state government. The government also agreed to supply 9 lakh litres and 15 lakh liters of water daily to these two companies respectively at a rate of '37.50 per 1,000 litres.
