About 20 activists who marched into the Coca Cola factory at Plachimada in Kerala on Saturday to confiscate the company’s property in the name of the people were arrested by the police.
The factory which poisoned land and water in the area was closed down following prolonged agitation by the people, which attracted worldwide attention.
The Kerala Assembly has passed a bill providing for the setting up of a tribunal to determine the compensation payable to victims of the pollution. The bill is awaiting the signature of the President.
The symbolic confiscation of the company's property was part of an attempt to impress upon the Centre and the State government the need to implement the law. “We are demanding proper compensation for the people of Plachimada from Coca Cola and it is the people’s natural right,” a spokesman for the group which staged the protest action said.
He added that most of the arrested persons would remain in jail and not seek bail.
Showing posts with label Pollution. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Pollution. Show all posts
17 December, 2011
23 February, 2009
Plachimada agitation is 2,500 days old
The agitation by residents of Plachimada in Kerala’s Palakkad district and nearby villages against the multinational giant Coca Cola is 2,500 days old. It thus becomes the longest popular struggle in the State’s history.
The MNC set up the Plachimada plant in 1999. As the factory depleted and polluted their water sources, the villagers, mainly Adivasis, began an agitation on April 22, 2002, with a symbolic blockade and continuous picketing.
When the panchayats stepped in to protect the interests of the villagers, the company dragged it into costly legal proceedings that extended all the way to the Supreme Court.
Eventually, however, the company had to shut down the plant as the State Pollution Control Board and the panchayats refused licences for continued working.
Mylamma, an Adivasi woman who emerged as the leading spokesperson of the Adivasis, has since died.
Although expert committees have upheld the villagers’ contention that the company has polluted their water sources, the government has desisted from taking any punitive action against it.
Velur Swaminathan, Secretary, Plachimada Adivasi Samrakshana Sangham (Tribal Protection Council) and R. Ajayan, Convener, Plachimada Samara Aikyadardya Samithi (Agitation Solidarity Committee) last week wrote an Open Letter to former UN Under Secretary General Shashi Tharoor taking exception to his association with the company as a member of the advisory board of Coca Cola India Foundation.
They listed the following charges against the company:
Coca Cola polluted the ground water with deadly toxic and carcinogenic cadmium and lead, which it has not listed under ‘raw materials’, and refused to provide an explanation for their presence.
Coca Cola distributed and spread the deadly toxic and carcinogenic cadmium and lead through its waste sludge and slurry, passing them off as good soil nutrients.
Coca Cola did not supply piped water to the affected families as ordered by the Supreme Court Monitoring Committee on Hazardous Waste.
Coca Cola, as the single largest extractor of ground water and largest transporter of water to other centres through soft drinks, a non-essential luxury good, made the most contribution to depletion of ground water.
The MNC set up the Plachimada plant in 1999. As the factory depleted and polluted their water sources, the villagers, mainly Adivasis, began an agitation on April 22, 2002, with a symbolic blockade and continuous picketing.
When the panchayats stepped in to protect the interests of the villagers, the company dragged it into costly legal proceedings that extended all the way to the Supreme Court.
Eventually, however, the company had to shut down the plant as the State Pollution Control Board and the panchayats refused licences for continued working.
Mylamma, an Adivasi woman who emerged as the leading spokesperson of the Adivasis, has since died.
Although expert committees have upheld the villagers’ contention that the company has polluted their water sources, the government has desisted from taking any punitive action against it.
Velur Swaminathan, Secretary, Plachimada Adivasi Samrakshana Sangham (Tribal Protection Council) and R. Ajayan, Convener, Plachimada Samara Aikyadardya Samithi (Agitation Solidarity Committee) last week wrote an Open Letter to former UN Under Secretary General Shashi Tharoor taking exception to his association with the company as a member of the advisory board of Coca Cola India Foundation.
They listed the following charges against the company:
Coca Cola polluted the ground water with deadly toxic and carcinogenic cadmium and lead, which it has not listed under ‘raw materials’, and refused to provide an explanation for their presence.
Coca Cola distributed and spread the deadly toxic and carcinogenic cadmium and lead through its waste sludge and slurry, passing them off as good soil nutrients.
Coca Cola did not supply piped water to the affected families as ordered by the Supreme Court Monitoring Committee on Hazardous Waste.
Coca Cola, as the single largest extractor of ground water and largest transporter of water to other centres through soft drinks, a non-essential luxury good, made the most contribution to depletion of ground water.
04 July, 2008
Beijing’s efforts to contain pollution for Olympics
The Chinese authorities, preparing for the Olympic Games, have taken several steps to ensure that the air is clean, says Jun Wang in a New America Media news feature.
See story Beijing Turns Green Before the Olympics
See story Beijing Turns Green Before the Olympics
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