Cola Karma

The southern Indian state of Kerala has passed a new law that will allow people to seek compensation Coca-Cola, reports the BBC.

The state government says a Coca-Cola plant in the Palakkad area "over-extracted" ground water and improperly disposed of waste materials, leading to a shortage of drinking water and health problems among the local population, the TV channel said.

Under the new law, a three-member tribunal will be set up to deal with compensation claims by those who say they were adversely affected by the Coca-Cola plant.

Coca-Cola maintains that neither of the government's claims has ever been supported by scientific proof.

Likely, the development will be a step backward in Kerala's efforts to attract industry to the unemployment-plagued state–which ranks remarkably high on the human development index but sees most of its male residents zip off to the Gulf for jobs thanks to communist government policies that boost public services but discourage private investors.