NEW DELHI: Coca-Cola has been heavily criticised for causing extreme water shortages in developing countries where supplies are scarce. New evidence from campaign group War on Want appears to show that Coca-Cola has had a serious impact in communities in several Indian states and in Latin America.

War on Want researchers have uncovered areas in Rajasthan where farmers have been unable to irrigate their fields after Coca-Cola established a bottling plant there. The War on Want report also revealed similar problems in Uttar Pradesh. Already well-known are incidents in the southern Indian state of Kerala, where a Coke plant was forced to close two years ago after it contaminated local water.

Coca-Cola is the largest beverage company in the world, and used 283 billion litres of water in 2004. For every 2.7 litres of water it takes, it produces one litre of product. Its profits last year were just under $15bn and it has a market capitalisation of over $100bn.

But the firm faces a string of environmental and health issues. It has also endured some embarrassing PR disasters, as when it was forced to withdraw a premium brand of bottled water from the UK after it emerged that it was processed tapwater.

Later this month, the National Union of Students will vote on whether to ban Coca-Cola vending machines from student union facilities as concern rises over the firm’s impact on the environment.

Several areas in India and Latin America are challenging Coca-Cola’s abuse of water resources. Louise Richards, chief executive of War on Want, said: ‘This report exposes the grim reality behind Coke’s image. She added: ‘Across the world, cases of environmental damage, exploitation of water resources and abuses of workers’ rights are shockingly common. It’s time that directors of multinationals held to account — but that will only happen when politicians accept that the current free-for-all is failing the world’s poor.’

The attacks came as critics rounded on Coca-Cola for sponsoring the World Water Forum, currently taking place in Mexico. The forum is a place where water firms and environmentalists discuss how to improve conditions for the 1.1 billion people who do not have access to safe water and sanitation, but it has come under attack for being a talking shop that achieves little.—Dawn/The Observer News Service