The South Asian: Young Visitors Find Coke Responsible for Water Situation

October 20, 2007

Young Visitors Find Coke Responsible for Water Situation

A group of college students, Americans of Indian origin, visited Coke's India headquarters in Delhi and Mehdiganj where local communities say they are affected by Coke's activities. A report.

The group of Ayesha Kazim (University of Maryland, College Park), Rakesh Mistry (University of Maryland, College Park), Rahul Suresh (Rice University), Sowmya Paturi (University of Connecticut) visited Coke in Delhi. There, officials told them that Coke had gone acted in ways that go beyond just fulfilling their responsibilities to the environment and local communities. The company said that up to 80% of water is replenished and by 2009 operations would replenish all water used in production of the drinks. Officials also told them that protests were instigated by outside influence.

When the group visited Mehdiganj, they met members of Lok Samiti (People's Organization) who, the group says, treated them as friends, not visitors. They found Lok Samiti to be made of individuals who were very dedicated, and who were part of the local community. These were people who continue to work in their communities even though they could be earning larger sums working elsewhere.

The detailed presentation is available as a pdf file.

Posted by collective at October 20, 2007 04:52 PM

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