April 19, 2012
Coca-Cola Causes
Serious Depletion of Water Resources in India: Liable for US$ 48 Million for
Damages
Global Research, March 24, 2010
|
India Resource
Center - 2010-03-22
|
New Delhi: In a major development, a High
Power Committee established by the state government of Kerala in India has
recommended today that Coca-Cola be held liable for Indian Rupees 216 crore
(US$ 48 million) for damages caused as a result of the company’s bottling
operations in Plachimada.
The Coca-Cola bottling plant in
Plachimada has remained shut down since March 2004 as a result of the
community-led campaign in Plachimada challenging Coca-Cola’s abuse of water
resources.
The report and recommendations were
welcomed by activists who have challenged Coca-Cola’s operations in Plachimada.
Demanding compensation from the Coca-Cola company for the damages it has caused
has been a central demand of the campaign from its inception.
“We welcome the Committee’s
recommendations and now the state government must find the political will to
implement the recommendations,” said R. Ajayan of the Plachimada Solidarity
Committee, a statewide organization that has been instrumental in moving the
compensation process forward.
The Adivasi Samrakshana Sangham and the
Plachimada Solidarity Committee had submitted detailed proposals to the high
level committee on the issue of compensation and the course forward.
“The Committee thus has compelling
evidence to conclude that the HCBPL has caused serious depletion of the water
resources of Plachimada, and has severely contaminated the water and soil,”
said the report. HCBPL is the Hindustan Coca-Cola Beverages Private Limited, a
subsidiary of Atlanta based Coca-Cola Company.
“The Committee has come to the conclusion
that the Company is responsible for these damages and it is obligatory that
they pay the compensation to the affected people for the agricultural losses,
health problems, loss of wages, loss of educational opportunities, and the
pollution caused to the water resources,” added the report.
The report made it clear that the numbers
used in arriving at the $48 million compensation were estimates and “indicative
in nature”, and “should not be treated as the outer limit of compensation.”
Importantly, the report clarified that
the compensation suggested did not include damages as a result of water
depletion caused by Coca-Cola, and such damages must be assessed.
The report also agreed that Coca-Cola
should be held criminally liable for its reckless actions in Plachimada – a key
demand of the campaign to hold Coca-Cola accountable. “The compensation is not
to be viewed as a quid pro quo for not initiating criminal charges,” the report
stated.
The Committee has also recommended that
the government create a “dedicated adjudicating agency”, such as a Claims
Tribunal, to move the process of compensation forward. Alternatively, the
report suggested approaching the central government to set up an institutional
mechanism to process the compensation claims under the Environment Protection
Act.
Some activists have questioned the
compensatory figure suggested by the Committee as being too low.
“A transparent and institutionalized
process can revisit the recommended compensation numbers to make sure that
Coca-Cola pays for all the damages it has caused,” said R. Ajayan.
Validating the long term campaign against
Coca-Cola, the High Power Committee confirmed that the Coca-Cola company had
violated a number of laws in its reckless operations, including: Water
(Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1974; The Environment (Protection)
Act ,1986; The Factories Act, 1948; Hazardous Waste (Management and Handling)
Rules, 1989; The SC-ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act 1989; Indian Penal Code;
Land Utilization Order, 1967; The Kerala Ground Water (Control &
Regulation) Act, 2002; Indian Easement Act, 1882.
Ironically, the report confirming
Coca-Cola’s mismanagement of water resources and holding the company liable for
$48 million in damages comes on World Water Day.
“We have attended every Coca-Cola
shareholders meeting in the US since 2004 to remind Coca-Cola shareholders that
the company management was being derelict in its duties by not disclosing the
real financial liabilities the company was incurring in India,” said Amit
Srivastava of the India Resource Center, an international campaigning
organization.
“Coca-Cola shareholders need to pay
attention because the company continues to have an atrocious record in India
and communities and even governments are not just going to sit back and take
Coca-Cola’s abuses. This should serve as a wake up call,” he continued,
referring to other community-led campaigns in India, most notably in Mehdiganj
and Kala Dera, where the company has destroyed water resources through over
extraction of water and pollution.
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