“CocaCola”nisation?!

Kiran RadhakrishnanRoll No. 8ISEM – X

PLACHIMADA

Outline

• The Parties Involved• Plachimada – the Region

in worldwide focus• Timeline• Problems• Coca Cola’s Stand• Repercussions• Bibliography

• CSE – The Centre for Science & Environment• Coca Cola Company – 400 brands sold,

> 200 countries - Atlanta, GA - 1892• State Govt. of Kerala• The people of Plachimada

(even India as a whole?!)• KSPCB - Kerala State

Pollution Control Board

Parties Involved

Plachimada

Plachimada• Palakkad District (“rice bowl of Kerala”)

– located 5 km from the TN border, 30 km east of Palakkad town – dry region, rain shadow area

• Most of the villagers – agricultural wage workers, landless Adivasis (SCs and STs)

• 34 acres – ~60 bore wells, 2 ponds

• Power from generators

Plachimada

Timeline• 1999 – licence for setting up the plant granted -2000;

water quality/quantity after 6 months – Ca2+ Mg2+

• Licence expired in 2001 but Coke still continued drawing water aided by a G. O.

• 2002 – blockade near the factory – protests start

• Jananeethi (NGO); Exeter Univ... CSE... Cd, Pb traces – sludge - KSPCB warning

• March 2004 - Coke bottling plant shut down

Timeline• April 2005 – Coke wins battle to draw water

“reasonably” - 5 lakh L a day

• KSPCB – orders stoppage of production – Cd

• 2005 – State Govt. challenge - willing to relocate

• 2006 – Panchayat renews licence with strict guidelines

• State Ban on Coke in 2005-06; revoked

• 2010 – govt. panel assessed overall cost of the damage

Problems

1 L of Coca Cola– requires > 4 L groundwater– generates 2.7 L

wastewater + solid waste

Problems

Problems• Cd & Pb and other traces health problems

• Hard water from draining aquifers

• Company distributed solid waste as fertiliser

• Gross misuse of groundwater; Water dried up in public wells (45-100m), harmful content in wells ~2 km radius; elephants breaking pipelines

• CSE – found pesticide levels 36x EU permitted levels – “one global standard” claim?

• Kerala High Court – neglected rights associated with water and livelihood – problems still unsettled

Coca Cola Stand• FAQ on Kerala on website - No real change in water

levels

• Talks of “multiplier effect” – 6000 Indians employed

• “politicisation” – scapegoat

• Difficult for media & NGOs to access the factory – violations of Environment Protection Act 1986

• Dismissed the 2010 ruling as being based on assumptions

Repercussions

Repercussions

Repercussions• Coke bottling plant at Plachimada shut down (2004)• From local women’s agitation to Worldwide focus –

from Mylamma to Vandana Shiva• anti-Coke campaign; even at UMich and NYU• Distrust – fall in sales• State Ban on Coke in 2005• Independent inquiries into CCC operations ...• Conflicts: State vs. Panchayat – decentralisation?,

Rich vs. Poor, Poor vs. MNC, use of “private” land• ` 216.26 crore – total cost estimated by a panel

Bibliography• The Hindu/Frontline Archives• Corporate social responsibility in India: towards a sane society? -

Aruna Das Gupta and Ananda Das GuptaSOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY JOURNAL - VOL. 4 NO. 1/2 2008, pp. 209-216

• Legal Implications of Plachimada – A Case Study: Sujith KoonanInternational Environmental Law Research Centre Working Paper 2007-05

• Coca Cola CEO’s Green Initiative: Money.cnn.com 17.04.2008http://money.cnn.com/2008/04/14/news/companies/coca_cola.fortune/index.htm?postversion=2008041708

• The South Asian http://www.thesouthasian.org/archives/2010/kerala_panel_verdict_coke_must.html

• http://www.indiatogether.org/2010/apr/env-plachmada.htm• Fighting Cocacolanisation in Plachimada: Water, soft drinks and a

tragedy of the commons in an Indian village – Eva Wrammer, Lund University

• Water pollution by industrial effluents in India: Discharge scenarios and case for participatory ecosystem specific local regulation - T. Rajaram, Ashutosh Das Elsevier; Futures 40 (2008) 56–69

? ? ? ?Queries