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
a. to take samples of water and soil from within the 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;
b. 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;
c. 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;
d. 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, Coca-Cola Virudha Samara Samithy, R.Ajayan, Convenor, Plachimada Solidarity Committee, Vilayodi Venugopal, Patron, Plachimada, Chittur Taluk, Palakkad district, Kerala

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