Coca-Cola India has been asked to depose before the joint parliamentary committee probing pesticide allegations in beverages on December 3 even as the panel blamed water authorities for the poor quality of ground water available at present.
| |||||||||||
The JPC, which met on Wednesday, has asked Coke to depose before it but is yet to receive any request from PepsiCo for deposition, sources said in New Delhi.
The presentations made before the JPC included that of Central Ground Water Board, Ground Water Authority and the Secretary Water Resources.
During their presentations, these government bodies are believed to have told the JPC that they were not authorised to test ground water quality but were only there to monitor its quantity.
"They all said the same thing...that they have no mandate to check ground water quality, saying water was a state subject. This, despite the fact that there are as many as 15,000 monitoring stations for ground water," they added.
The JPC will continue its meeting on Thursday, after which it will meet only in December this year owing to the members being otherwise occupied during elections in November.
In its presentation before the JPC, the Centre is believed to have expressed its inability to check ground water quality, citing multiplicity of agencies which handle water issues.
Among the depositions expected before the JPC tomorrow include one by Parle chief Ramesh Chauhan under the aegis of Indian Bottled Water Association besides those by the Food Processing Association and the Pollution Control Board.
Sources said Coke was asked to depose before the JPC after its chief executive officer Sanjiv Gupta wrote to chairman Sharad Pawar seeking permission to appear before the panel.
The JPC is also scheduled to visit the company's Kerala plant which bottles all of its brands including Coca-Cola, Fanta, Limca, Maaza and Thums Up.
This plant, situated in Palaghat district, caters to markets across Kerala and the border of Tamil Nadu.
More from rediff