From their perspective...by kiara blake
Are Coca-Cola plants in India causing water depletion in different villages? According to the villagers themselves they are, but is that really true? What else could be causing all of the water loss? The issue is water is being polluted and groundwater is getting to an all time low. Of course the easy thing to do is to blame the big company, since they have been there, water has been scares but whose to say without the plants ever being built many of these villages would be in the exact same place they are now, low on water, low on groundwater and wells drying up? If Coca-Cola plants weren't ever built in these different villages then the water levels would be the same as they are today.
Unfortunately, water shortage is an increasing problem around the world. Some third world countries in 2013 don't even have any drinking water available for all their citizens. Some villages in India are apart of that group. According to the book Conflict and the Environment “In the developing world, more than one billion people don't have access to clean drinking water.” - (Gleditch 377)
There is a water crisis going on all around the world and there has been for many of years. Therefore the water shortages that India is dealing with may not just be from one cause (Coca-Cola), but a combination of reasons. One reason may be that, “Water is generally priced much lower than its marginal cost; therefore, there is no incentive to conserve water.” - (Gleditch 377)
That's a major problem with our world. people think water will always be there and it doesn't matter how much they use until people (such as the villagers in India) start to notice that it's running out. That's what needs to be addressed first the fact that there is a serious water crisis happening. According to Aneel Karnani “the world faces a water crisis. According to the United Nations Environmental program, 200 scientist in 50 countries identified water shortages as one of the two most worrying problems for this millennium. The world water council believes that by 2020 we will need 17% more water than available to feed and hydrate the world. Today one person in 7 in this world does not have access to safe drinking water... Compared to many other countries, India faces more imminent water crisis. China's 1.33 billion people each have 2,117 cubic meters of water available per year, compared with 1,614 cubic meters in India and as much as 9,943 cubic meters in the U.S., according to the Food and Agricultural organization of the United Nations. (The 1.2 billion people in India where farmers use 80% of available water, will exhaust their freshwater supplies by 2050 at the current rate, the World Bank estimates.”) -(Karnani 2012)
The fact is that Indian farmers are using up a large amount of water themselves. When Coca- Cola plants were being built in different villages it was around the same time (1999) water shortages started getting noticed, but these shortages we're happening before Coke was located in India. “Prioritizes for water use are: drinking, agriculture, power generation, and industrial, in that order.” - (Karnani 2012)
“Coca-Cola India cites a Central Ground Water Board study that the total groundwater extraction in 2005 was divid as follows: 95.06% for irrigation, 4.33% for domestic use and only 0.61% for industrial use... Overall, the Coca-Cola plant accounts for somewhere between 0.2 to 1.0 percent of the total groundwater extraction in the Kaladera area.” - (Karnani 2012)
The Coca-Cola plant uses the least amount of water than anything or one else in this one area but if we were talking about all of India the number would be an even smaller amount. The journal article, Case Study: Coca-Cola and Water in India: Episode 2 stated “Coca-Cola posted new information on it's website arguing that the beverage industry was responsible for just 0.0002% of total water usage in all of India making it one one of the the most efficient users of water in the Country.” - (Burnett & Welford 2007)
With all of these facts, it's a little short sided for people to be blaming Coca-Cola for all of the water shortages. They are one of the most efficient users of water not only in some of the villages but in all of India. But even with that Coca-Cola is still being blamed and “was ordered to stop drawing groundwater from its bottling plants in Plachimada, Kerala, southern India, after a court ruled it was ruining the environment.” -(Hills & Welford 2005)
There was not enough solid evidence to prove any of this by the courts, but Coca-Cola still had to abide by the court ruling. Not only does Coca-Cola as a company use the least amount of water in India they also put back into the community to help not only conserve water, but by creating countless numbers of jobs. “Since it's return in 1993 Coca-Cola estimates it has invested around US$1 billion in India, making it one of the countries biggest international investors. The company produces its beverages locally with around 7,000 employees at 27 wholly owned bottling operations... Coca-Cola says it indirectly creates employment for another 125,000 people via procurement, supply and distribution network... Coca-Cola initiatives in India have primary been community, health, and environment focused. The company has set up primary school education projects for for children in slums and villages. They've also supported community-based rainwater harvesting projects to restore water levels, that involves educating local communities about water conservation.” -(Hills & Welford 2005)
Coke is also helping farmers out by trying to teach new farming methods to help converse water. “The demand for water is also an important issue for India’s vast market of agriculture, which directly or indirectly employs almost 70 percent of the population. Coca-Cola and other corporate partners have been working to solve problems and modernize India’s centuries-old farming methods.For example, Project Unnati, a sustainable agriculture initiative by Coca-Cola and Jain Irrigation, is establishing 100 demonstration farms and training more than 50,000 farmers over the next five years. The $2 million first phase of the program uses customized buses — classrooms on wheels — to provide on-the-go training in ultra-high-density plantation techniques that can help farmers double their mango yields.”- (Winzelberg 2013)
Not only does Coca-Cola as a company give back to India they also work with the villagers to
make more water available. The Coca-Cola Sustainability Report talked about how Coke was doing this. “...under this project TSVS identified the hills of Mandararia and Palona villages in Kishangarn and Jawaja blocks are to construct dams to harvest rain water and recharge groundwater. This will help facilitate surface storage... With a storage capacity of approximately 1.9 billion liters and the second dam having the capacity of approximately 3 billion liters... This project is expected to benefit as many as 40,000 villagers and about heads 70,000 cattle spread across 20 villages.” -(Khetan 2011)
Coke doesn't just try to conserve water for the villagers they also try to conserve water in their plants. “Coca-Cola has built 140 rain water harvesting (RWH) structures in the Kaladear area.” - (Karnani 2012) That's 140 rain water harvesting structures built into the plants and also other areas all around Karnani. All the facts of water usage and al the good Coke does as a company out weighs the bad and all of their efforts as a company has definitely paid off. “If someone gives you a Thums Up (coke brand soda in India) in Mumbai, you'll walk away feeling refreshed. That’s because ThumsUp is the top-selling soft drink in India. But the popular drink’s ubiquitous red thumbs-up logo is also a sign of the progress that The Coca-Cola Companyhas made in winning over an increasing number of Indian consumers.
In fact, Coke was recognized as India's most trusted beverage brand in Brand Equity's 2011 Most Trusted Brands survey, and Coca-Cola India ranks among the top-five most-respected fast-moving consumer goods companies in the country, according to BusinessWorld's 2011 Most Respected Companies list.” -(Winzelberg 2013)
Things are looking up for Coke at this point. When it comes to a solution to resolve the “problem” the first things that come to mind are building more rain water harvesting structure all around India, mainly in villages where there are Coca-Cola plants. All the water collected should be
directly used in the plants so they would have to use a lot less of the water from wells, and groundwater. The plans to build dams in some villages is a great idea and it should be applied to other areas of India as well. They could work on where their plants are, some of which are located in known drought villages. In all honestly Coke has done a good job with fixing the problem already. Most of the accusations made against Coke happened years a ago and since then they have done all of these things to change and prove that they are not the cause for water shortages in India.
Works Cited
Burnett, M., & Welford, R. (2007). Case Study: Coca-Cola And Water In India: Episode 2. Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, 14(5), 298-304.
Gleditsch, N. (1997). N/A. Water Problems in Urban Areas. Conflict and the Environment. (p. 377). N/a: Dordrecht: Kluwer Academic.
Hills, J., & Welford, R. (2005). Case Study: Coca-Cola and Water in India: Episode 1. Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, 1, 168-177.
Karnari, A. (2012). Case Study: Coca-Cola India. Corporate Social Responsibility Does Not Avert the Tragedy of the Commons, 1, 1-32.
Khetan, N. (2011). coca cola india sustainability report. coca cola india sustainability report, N/A(N/A), 60.
Winzelberg, D. (n.d.). Coca-Cola Eyes Major Growth in India : The Coca-Cola Company. Coca-Cola Journey Homepage: The Coca-Cola Company. Retrieved May 14, 2013, from http://www.coca-colacompany.com/stories/coca-cola-eyes-major-growth-in-indi a
Unfortunately, water shortage is an increasing problem around the world. Some third world countries in 2013 don't even have any drinking water available for all their citizens. Some villages in India are apart of that group. According to the book Conflict and the Environment “In the developing world, more than one billion people don't have access to clean drinking water.” - (Gleditch 377)
There is a water crisis going on all around the world and there has been for many of years. Therefore the water shortages that India is dealing with may not just be from one cause (Coca-Cola), but a combination of reasons. One reason may be that, “Water is generally priced much lower than its marginal cost; therefore, there is no incentive to conserve water.” - (Gleditch 377)
That's a major problem with our world. people think water will always be there and it doesn't matter how much they use until people (such as the villagers in India) start to notice that it's running out. That's what needs to be addressed first the fact that there is a serious water crisis happening. According to Aneel Karnani “the world faces a water crisis. According to the United Nations Environmental program, 200 scientist in 50 countries identified water shortages as one of the two most worrying problems for this millennium. The world water council believes that by 2020 we will need 17% more water than available to feed and hydrate the world. Today one person in 7 in this world does not have access to safe drinking water... Compared to many other countries, India faces more imminent water crisis. China's 1.33 billion people each have 2,117 cubic meters of water available per year, compared with 1,614 cubic meters in India and as much as 9,943 cubic meters in the U.S., according to the Food and Agricultural organization of the United Nations. (The 1.2 billion people in India where farmers use 80% of available water, will exhaust their freshwater supplies by 2050 at the current rate, the World Bank estimates.”) -(Karnani 2012)
The fact is that Indian farmers are using up a large amount of water themselves. When Coca- Cola plants were being built in different villages it was around the same time (1999) water shortages started getting noticed, but these shortages we're happening before Coke was located in India. “Prioritizes for water use are: drinking, agriculture, power generation, and industrial, in that order.” - (Karnani 2012)
“Coca-Cola India cites a Central Ground Water Board study that the total groundwater extraction in 2005 was divid as follows: 95.06% for irrigation, 4.33% for domestic use and only 0.61% for industrial use... Overall, the Coca-Cola plant accounts for somewhere between 0.2 to 1.0 percent of the total groundwater extraction in the Kaladera area.” - (Karnani 2012)
The Coca-Cola plant uses the least amount of water than anything or one else in this one area but if we were talking about all of India the number would be an even smaller amount. The journal article, Case Study: Coca-Cola and Water in India: Episode 2 stated “Coca-Cola posted new information on it's website arguing that the beverage industry was responsible for just 0.0002% of total water usage in all of India making it one one of the the most efficient users of water in the Country.” - (Burnett & Welford 2007)
With all of these facts, it's a little short sided for people to be blaming Coca-Cola for all of the water shortages. They are one of the most efficient users of water not only in some of the villages but in all of India. But even with that Coca-Cola is still being blamed and “was ordered to stop drawing groundwater from its bottling plants in Plachimada, Kerala, southern India, after a court ruled it was ruining the environment.” -(Hills & Welford 2005)
There was not enough solid evidence to prove any of this by the courts, but Coca-Cola still had to abide by the court ruling. Not only does Coca-Cola as a company use the least amount of water in India they also put back into the community to help not only conserve water, but by creating countless numbers of jobs. “Since it's return in 1993 Coca-Cola estimates it has invested around US$1 billion in India, making it one of the countries biggest international investors. The company produces its beverages locally with around 7,000 employees at 27 wholly owned bottling operations... Coca-Cola says it indirectly creates employment for another 125,000 people via procurement, supply and distribution network... Coca-Cola initiatives in India have primary been community, health, and environment focused. The company has set up primary school education projects for for children in slums and villages. They've also supported community-based rainwater harvesting projects to restore water levels, that involves educating local communities about water conservation.” -(Hills & Welford 2005)
Coke is also helping farmers out by trying to teach new farming methods to help converse water. “The demand for water is also an important issue for India’s vast market of agriculture, which directly or indirectly employs almost 70 percent of the population. Coca-Cola and other corporate partners have been working to solve problems and modernize India’s centuries-old farming methods.For example, Project Unnati, a sustainable agriculture initiative by Coca-Cola and Jain Irrigation, is establishing 100 demonstration farms and training more than 50,000 farmers over the next five years. The $2 million first phase of the program uses customized buses — classrooms on wheels — to provide on-the-go training in ultra-high-density plantation techniques that can help farmers double their mango yields.”- (Winzelberg 2013)
Not only does Coca-Cola as a company give back to India they also work with the villagers to
make more water available. The Coca-Cola Sustainability Report talked about how Coke was doing this. “...under this project TSVS identified the hills of Mandararia and Palona villages in Kishangarn and Jawaja blocks are to construct dams to harvest rain water and recharge groundwater. This will help facilitate surface storage... With a storage capacity of approximately 1.9 billion liters and the second dam having the capacity of approximately 3 billion liters... This project is expected to benefit as many as 40,000 villagers and about heads 70,000 cattle spread across 20 villages.” -(Khetan 2011)
Coke doesn't just try to conserve water for the villagers they also try to conserve water in their plants. “Coca-Cola has built 140 rain water harvesting (RWH) structures in the Kaladear area.” - (Karnani 2012) That's 140 rain water harvesting structures built into the plants and also other areas all around Karnani. All the facts of water usage and al the good Coke does as a company out weighs the bad and all of their efforts as a company has definitely paid off. “If someone gives you a Thums Up (coke brand soda in India) in Mumbai, you'll walk away feeling refreshed. That’s because ThumsUp is the top-selling soft drink in India. But the popular drink’s ubiquitous red thumbs-up logo is also a sign of the progress that The Coca-Cola Companyhas made in winning over an increasing number of Indian consumers.
In fact, Coke was recognized as India's most trusted beverage brand in Brand Equity's 2011 Most Trusted Brands survey, and Coca-Cola India ranks among the top-five most-respected fast-moving consumer goods companies in the country, according to BusinessWorld's 2011 Most Respected Companies list.” -(Winzelberg 2013)
Things are looking up for Coke at this point. When it comes to a solution to resolve the “problem” the first things that come to mind are building more rain water harvesting structure all around India, mainly in villages where there are Coca-Cola plants. All the water collected should be
directly used in the plants so they would have to use a lot less of the water from wells, and groundwater. The plans to build dams in some villages is a great idea and it should be applied to other areas of India as well. They could work on where their plants are, some of which are located in known drought villages. In all honestly Coke has done a good job with fixing the problem already. Most of the accusations made against Coke happened years a ago and since then they have done all of these things to change and prove that they are not the cause for water shortages in India.
Works Cited
Burnett, M., & Welford, R. (2007). Case Study: Coca-Cola And Water In India: Episode 2. Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, 14(5), 298-304.
Gleditsch, N. (1997). N/A. Water Problems in Urban Areas. Conflict and the Environment. (p. 377). N/a: Dordrecht: Kluwer Academic.
Hills, J., & Welford, R. (2005). Case Study: Coca-Cola and Water in India: Episode 1. Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, 1, 168-177.
Karnari, A. (2012). Case Study: Coca-Cola India. Corporate Social Responsibility Does Not Avert the Tragedy of the Commons, 1, 1-32.
Khetan, N. (2011). coca cola india sustainability report. coca cola india sustainability report, N/A(N/A), 60.
Winzelberg, D. (n.d.). Coca-Cola Eyes Major Growth in India : The Coca-Cola Company. Coca-Cola Journey Homepage: The Coca-Cola Company. Retrieved May 14, 2013, from http://www.coca-colacompany.com/stories/coca-cola-eyes-major-growth-in-indi a