Call it a fizzy war with a difference. Ranged on one side are multinational soft drink giants Coca-Cola and Pepsi, both traditional rivals.
Both have bottling plants in the drought-prone Palakkad district of Kerala. On the other side is the Democratic Youth Federation of India (DYFI) and assorted Left-oriented organisations.
The DYFI has been organising protest marches and seminars against both companies. Nearly 1,000 families, mainly tribals of the area, have been demanding that both companies close their plants and have resorted to dharnas in front of the plants.
The issue of contention: the sizeable amounts of water the bottling plants of both soft drink companies guzzle.
Villagers and politicians also accuse the two companies of polluting the drinking water in and around their factories by treating the water with chemicals
