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Irreparable
damage has been done to the world's highest mountain chain where
some of the rock surfaces are as old as 45 million years
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NEW
DELHI, September 17 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - India's
Supreme Court on Monday, September 16, fined cola majors Pepsi and
Coca Cola, as well as 10 other companies, for painting adverts on
ecologically sensitive rock faces along a stretch of highway through
the spectacular Himalayan ranges.
A
three-judge bench ordered the two cola companies to deposit 200,000
rupees (4,000 dollars) each, while the other companies were asked to
pay 100,000 rupees each within 48 hours towards the cost of repairing
the damage, Agence France-Presse (AFP) reported.
The
court also directed a committee set up to report on the damage to
shoot a video of the area to assess how much work needed to be done.
"No
approval for use of government property for commercial purposes has
been obtained by the advertisers who had used a crude process for
painting their advertisements and caused irreparable damage to the
fragile ecosystem," the committee told the court in a report.
The
10 other companies hauled up include Malhotra Book Depot, Fena
Detergent, Birla White Cement, State Bank of India, Sleepwell
Mattresses, Nestle India Ltd and Annapurna Hotels.
Both
cola companies said they would heed the court order, AFP said.
"Whatever
is the court order, we will abide by this," a PepsiCo India
spokesman said.
Coca
Cola India's spokesman echoed the line, saying: "We will go by
the court order."
The
Supreme Court had issued notices to the two cola majors after being
alerted by a report in the Indian Express newspaper which said the
advertisements had put at risk the ecosystem of the mossy rocks
teeming with micro-organisms.
The
paintings were made on a 56-kilometer (36-mile) stretch of highway on
the spectacular Manali-Rohtang pass in the northern state of Himachal
Pradesh.
Both
companies had earlier claimed the paintings were done by local
franchisees without their knowledge and that they were taking steps to
rectify the damage.
Local
experts said the beautiful Himalayan ranges were increasingly being
hit by pollution and commercialism.
"It
is no exaggeration to describe the Rohtang Pass as the second most
polluted spot in the Himalayas after South Kol [the base camp in Nepal
for Mount Everest]," said B.S. Malhans, a member of the Indian
National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (INTACH).
"Perhaps
able entrepreneurs do not realize the irreparable damage this
relentless advertisement campaign is causing to the fragile terrain of
the world's highest mountain chain where some of the rock surfaces are
as old as 45 million years," he added.
The
breathtaking Rohtang pass, 3,915 meters (12,850 feet) above sea level,
has also been polluted by garbage dumped by tourists who descend on it
between July and October, when it is relatively free of heavy snows.
The
word "Rohtang" in Tibetan language means "a heap of
dead bodies" and the pass has the reputation of being one of the
most hazardous in the Himalayas because of sudden blizzards and
snowstorms.
The
passage has been the gateway for centuries to the trading routes
leading to Lahaul, in northern India, Central Asia and China.
