Around 3,500 shops in Erode district of Tamil Nadu downed their shutters on Thursday in protest against the setting up of a Coco Cola bottling plant in SIPCOT industrial estate in Perundurai, said officials.
People were protesting against the plant as they feared it would deplete the ground water resources in the district. Perundurai is about 445 km from Chennai.
All the political parties, excepting the ruling AIADMK, had called for the protest against the plant.
It may be recalled that Coco-Cola's bottling plant in Plachimada in Kerala was also strongly opposed by the local people.
