Karnataka plans to ban colas in schools and colleges

The Karnataka Government is planning to ban cola drinks in educational institutions across the state after a study by New Delhi-based Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) found unacceptable levels of pesticides in Coca Cola and Pepsi.

Karnataka’s Health Minister R Ashok told reporters that the Government was contemplating a ban on cola drinks in educational institutions as well as hospitals and government canteens across the state.

A ministerial meeting is expected to take a decision on banning cola drinks soon in educational institutions soon. “We have to sit up and take note of the high levels of pesticide content in cola drinks. Paediatricians are of the opinion that consuming cola with higher pesticide levels is unhealthy and could cause intestinal diseases”, Ashok said.

Minister for Primary and Secondary Eduction Basavaraj Horatti said he had asked officials to include a ban on soft drinks on the agenda of his department’s meeting, scheduled for August 7.

Minister for Higher Education D H Shankarmurthy was also in favour of a ban on cola drinks in institutions of higher education. “I will wait for a day or two before arriving at a final decision”, he said.

Meanwhile, a Bangalore-based Government laboratory has found that borewell water samples in the vicinity of Pepsi and Coca Cola factories situated near Bangalore have traces of pesticides higher than the limits permitted by Indian Standards Institution (ISI).

The Government laboratory conducted the test after drawing samples of borewell water from the vicinity of the Pepsi manufacturing plant at Bidadi and Coca Cola manufacturing plant Kumbalgodu near Bangalore. “They found a compound, Dimethoiate, to be consistently higher than specified levels in waters tested from at least seventeen borewells in the vicinity of these factories”, officials said.

The Coca Cola and Pepsi manufacturing plants are using water from the borewells in the vicinity as it saves on transportation cost.