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Photos: courtesy India Resource centre www.IndiaResource.org
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A major soft drink manufacturer, Coca-Cola has been
accused of putting local famers out of their livelihood by draining water in
its production process, a charity organization ActionAid has revealed.
The effect has been pinpointed in the southern state
of Kerala, whereby the soft drink manufacturer of draining their water
reservoirs and at the same time poisoning their land with sludge which the
multinational company claims it to be a fertilizer.
ActionAid says the once prosperous area faced by the
environmental pollution is an example of the worst kind of inward investment by
multinational companies in developing countries.
In its report, to the World Trade Organisation's
meeting in Cancun, Mexico, in September the charity says this kind of abuse
must be controlled.
“Plachimada was a thriving agricultural community
until Coca-Cola set up the bottling plant in 1998 as coconut groves and
vegetable crops have had to be abandoned because of the lack of water,” the
report reveals.
Samples from Plachimada analysed by Exeter
University show high levels of lead and cadmium in the sludge. Lead is
particularly dangerously to children affecting their nervous system and cadmium
is taken up by plants, is toxic to the kidneys and liver and can cause cancer.
In his comments to The Guardian, Sunil Gupta, vice
president of coca-cola India says the company has been a target to extremist
protesters and it is lack of rainfall that has caused local water supplies to
be exhausted. However, he affirms that the company claims to use a maximum of
600,000 litres a day.
Adding salt to wound, an order by Perumatty village
council to cancel the company’s license to operate recently hit a snag after
the Kerala high court overruled its accusations that the company was
overexploiting the water resources.
Mark Thomas,
in his article which also appeared in the New Statesman - 30th Jan 04 reveals
that with dull predictability the local inhabitants noticed their water
diminishing. Wells went dry and what water there was became undrinkable, a
study by the district medical officer concluded
“This water is unfit for drinking.” Faced with no
local water people have to walk long distances to the nearest clean wells. In
the excellent BBC Radio 4 report on the Coca Cola plant one woman was quoted as
having to travel 7 kms to get water.
According to the India Resource Centre, it is alleged that their advertisers find
some Ealing Comedy type Indian Peasants to appear in the next ad, standing in
front of the bottling plant saying “It’s an ‘onour to be oppressed by a company
such as Coca Cola and I don’ mind a goin’ thirsty either. Not like them there
whingin’ Marxists and their politically motivated thirst!”
Meanwhile, the
resistance to Coke is growing. In Tamil Nadu, the neighbouring state to Kerala,
the company has built a plant in a joint deal with a local sugar mill company.
Thousands of demonstrators protested before it was even opened - and as yet it
remains closed.
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