PLACHIM

ADA
“CocaCola”nisation?!

Kiran Radhakrishnan
Roll No. 8
ISEM – X
Outline

The Parties Involved

Plachimada – the Region
in worldwide focus
Timeline
Problems
Coca Cola’s Stand
Repercussions
Bibliography
 Parties Involved
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
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
 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
 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
 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
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
 Bibliography
The Hindu/Frontline Archives
Corporate social responsibility in India: towards a sane
society? - Aruna Das Gupta and Ananda Das Gupta
SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY JOURNAL - VOL. 4 NO. 1/2 2008, pp. 209-216

Legal Implications of Plachimada – A Case Study: Sujith

Koonan
International Environmental Law Research Centre Working Paper 2007-05

Coca Cola CEO’s Green Initiative: Money.cnn.com

17.04.2008
http://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
????
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