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Coca-Cola Claims Again Exposed
Plachimada Solidarity Committee
Coca-Cola Virudha Samara Samithy
PRESS RELEASE
November 28, 2005
Plachimada: Coca Cola has been making claims that
"their production process follows zero discharge" meaning that all
their waste water was reused; "a rainwater harvesting system has been
implemented that recharges ground water with more than what the company
extracted" and that the waste is not hazardous. With the declaration
of Perumatty Panchayat as a "notified area" by the government, once
again it indicts Coca Cola for making patently false claims and promoting
untruths. Perumatty Panchayat is now classified as "over exploited".
Obviously, "over exploited" by Coca Cola making all their claims as
nothing but cheap public relations work to bluff the media and the
people.
The lack of improvement in the quality and quantity of ground water
in Plachimada even after more than a year of the closure of Coca Cola
plant is proof enough that the area's sub-surface water cannot be
even marginally recharged with rainwater harvesting. If this was so,
there should have been a remarkable improvement in both the quality
and quantity if ground water from the rains combined with the absence
of extraction of ground water by Coca-Cola in the last one year.
The Coca-Cola Virudha Samara Samithy and the Plachimada Aikyadhardya
Samithy calls upon the government
- to take samples of water and soil from within the Hindustan
Coca-Cola Beverages Private Limited (HCCB) factory premises and
around at least a square kilometer around the factory for
(i) a comprehensive analysis of the quality of water arising out
of changes in composition due to extraction/rapid extraction of
ground water as well as the changes these have induced on the
soil
(ii) a comprehensive analysis of the quality of ground water arising
out of discharge of hazardous waste as slurry and sludge;
- to inspect all the bores/borings made within the HCCB factory
premises since inception of the factory but which are not used
or subsequently sealed, for the specific purpose of determining
whether at any time during the operation of the HCCB factory,
these bore wells were used to discharge the waste/hazardous waste
underground or as a repository for the said waste;
- to seize samples of all materials used in the production process,
and inspect and seize all records to identify which of the raw
materials that are/were used for production of any product by
the factory was the source of the toxic contaminants, especially
cadmium and lead that are reported in substantial measure in the
waste from the factory;
- to requisition relevant scientists to inspect all the data on
quality and quantity thus far available and to carry out the inspection
as mentioned in (a) to (c)
The government should now frame criminal charges with reference to
all pertinent and relevant laws to fix criminal culpability
and criminal liability of HCCB.
Velur Swaminathan, Convenor Vilayodi Venugopal, Patron
Coca-Cola Virudha Samara Samithy
R.Ajayan, Convenor
Plachimada Solidarity Committee
Plachimada, Chittur Taluk, Palakkad district, Kerala
Ph: - 98471 42513
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