Indian Village Refuses US Cola Giant Licence To Exploit Ground Water

WATERWORLD

The tussle over licences is the latest in a series of battles between the US multinational and environmentalists and villagers that began in April 2002.

Thiruvananthapuram, India (AFP) June 14, 2005
An Indian village has defied a court order and again refused to give US softdrink giant Coca-Cola permission to exploit water at its bottling facility, an official said Tuesday.

The southern Indian village would go to the Supreme Court to challenge a Kerala High Court directive that it issue a permit allowing Coca-Cola to use 500,000 litres (132,000 gallons) of water a day, the village official said.

Coke's plant is situated in Plachimada, 510 kilometres (316 miles) north of the Kerala state capital Thiruvananthapuram, which falls under the Perumatty village council administration.

"We will appeal to the Supreme Court against the High Court's order. We will continue our struggle against Coca-Cola," said A. Krishnan, who heads the village's council.

The tussle over licences is the latest in a series of battles between the US multinational and environmentalists and villagers that began in April 2002.

Though the state government granted Coca-Cola permission to build its plant in Plachimada in 1998, the company was obliged to get the locally elected village council's go-ahead to exploit ground water and other resources.

The council twice issued the required licences to Coke - in 1998 and 2000 - but did not renew permission in 2002, claiming the bottling operation had depleted the farmers' drinking water and irrigation supplies.

The US company kept the plant running after obtaining a court order for the supply of water but closed the unit in March 2004 when agitation against the firm erupted and activists and villagers prevented trucks from leaving the premises.

After the plant was shut down, the village council offered a three-month permit which was rejected by Coke's Indian subsidiary Hindustan Coca-Cola Beverages.

Kerala's pollution control board estimates the bottling plant requires 1.5 million litres of water a day drawn from eight wells within the company's premises.

Villagers also say the plant dumps toxic wastes into the environment, resulting in crop failure and turbidity of drinking water.

Coke denies the allegations, saying it is not responsible for the depletion of the ground water and insists all its plants are safe and that any toxins released into the environment are well within legal limits.

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TERRADAILY

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