NEW DELHI: Soft drinks giants Coca-Cola and Pepsi are battling charges in India that they have painted advertisements on ecologically sensitive rock faces along a stretch of highway running through beautiful Himalayan ranges.

India’s Supreme Court has issued notices to the two cola majors after being alerted by a report in the Indian Express newspaper which said the advertisements had put at risk the ecosystem of the mossy rocks teeming with micro-organisms.

The paintings have been made on a 56-kilometre stretch of highway on the spectacular Manali-Rohtang pass in the northern state of Himachal Pradesh.

Both companies have claimed the paintings were done by local franchisees without their knowledge and that they are taking steps to rectify the damage.

“We were disappointed to hear about the painting of Coca-Cola logo on some of the rocks along the Manali-Rohtang pass,” Coke said in a statement.

“This is against the company’s environment policy guidelines. Ever since it came to our attention, we have instructed our people in the region to take expeditious steps to set right any damage caused by the act, in a manner that preserves, protects and enhances the environment in the area,” the statement said.

“Simultaneously, we have decided to work with the state government to start afforestation in the area and engage a geologist to advise on restoration of the original scenic beauty there.”

Pepsi explained that it did not operate directly in many parts and had already contacted the company’s local franchisees to take immediate corrective action.

“In India, in substantial parts of the markets including Himachal Pradesh, PepsiCo operates through franchise bottlers who in turn operate through their distributors,” Pepsi said in a statement.

“It was brought to our notice ... through a press report that one rock near Manali had been painted with the Pepsi logo,” it added.

“We have immediately drawn attention of the location bottler to this report who in turn has initiated urgent efforts to restore the rock without causing any ecological or environmental damage.”

The stretch of the mountainside road has also been plastered with advertisements by the local firm Malhotra Book Depot.

“It is no exaggeration to describe the Rohtang Pass as the second most polluted spot in the Himalayas after South Kol (the base camp in Nepal for Mount Everest),” said B.S. Malhans, a member of the Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (INTACH).

“Perhaps able entrepreneurs do not realize the irreparable damage this relentless advertisement campaign is causing to the fragile terrain of the world’s highest mountain chain where some of the rock surfaces are as old as 45 million years,” he added.

The breathtaking Rohtang pass situated 3,915 metres (12,850 feet) above sea level has also been polluted by garbage dumped by tourists who descend on it between July and October, when it is relatively free of heavy snows.

Local authorities recently joined hands with mountain dwellers to launch a clean up drive against polyester bags, glass bottles and tin cans.

“In the past 15 months, we have dug out several lorry loads of polythene which has painstakingly been removed to a solid waste management centre at Manali,” said a local official.

“Some of this non-biodegradable polythene was lying buried for 10 to 20 years. It was such a relief digging out layers of garbage as it was posing a threat to the fragile ecosystem of the mountains,” he added.

The word “Rohtang” in Tibetan language means “a heap of dead bodies” and the pass has the reputation being one of the most hazardous in the Himalayas because of sudden blizzards and snowstorms.

The passage has been the gateway for centuries to the trading routes leading to Lahaul, in northern India, Central Asia and China.

Even legendary traveller William Moorcroft crossed it in the early 1820s.—AFP