“Kisanon ne machaya shor, Coca-cola paani chor, Doodh-dahi ke desh mein Pepsi-Coke nahin chalega.”

This is one of the slogans being used by people’s movements in Uttar Pradesh which are organizing a march and a rally to close down 2 Coca-Cola bottling plants in the state.

The vast on-foot march would start on November 15th from the Coca-Cola factory at Sinhachavar in Ballia district and conclude in a rally at another bottling plant in Mehdiganj, Varanasi on 24th November. It is expected that thousands will participate in the whole process, members of the local affected communities as well as other supporters of the movement, thus making it so powerful as to enforce certain direct actions, on the concluding day, against the Mehdiganj plant.

The Coca-Cola plant in Mehdiganj, Varanasi draws out more than 250,000 litres of underground water per day. As a result of this, the water level has receded from 25 to 40 feet below ground level. The effluents from the plant have rendered acres of agricultural land infertile, and the company has not yet compensated the affected farmers, inspite of instructions from the administration. To put the scarcity of water in relief, the district of Varanasi has been affected drought-hit because of poor rains this year.

Recently the Kerala High Court passed an order preventing the Coca-Cola plant in Plachimada village from drawing underground water. The court ruling was precipitated by the severe drought conditions prevailing within a radius of 3 kilometres from the plant, owing to the drawing out of large amounts of underground water by the plant with wells, hand pumps and even tube wells having totally dried up. Also, pollution of the rainwater collected in these is so huge that it is no longer potable. More than being a significant landmark in the fight of local communities to preserve their sometimes scarce resources, against huge monolithic power structures, the decision is especially noteworthy as it says that underground water, irrespective of ownership of land is a common inheritance of all living beings; water is a birthright of the people. And it is the responsibility of the local communities and governments to protect this precious resource from being exploited and/or depleted.

After all, people have predicted that a lot of multilateral tensions could come about because of a lack or excess of water, as the case may be.

Coca-Cola has also occupied 15,000 sq feet of land belonging to the village panchayat of Mehdiganj. The District Magistrate, in December 2003, formed a committee to investigate what were termed the “anti-human” activities of the Coca-Cola plant. But till date, no action has been taken against the factory. The Government of Uttar Pradesh, despite repeated assurances of action against the company, precipitated in part by a picketing of the State Assembly by thousands of people in June 2003, is yet to take any action.

The crisis of water for the people of Ballia and Varanasi districts in Uttar Pradesh is very real, a crisis which has been precipitated by the removal of large quantities of water by the bottling plants. This march-rally, organized by the Lok Samiti Varanasi, the Gaon Bachao Sangharsh Samiti (Mehdiganj), Coca cola Bhagao-Krishi Bachao Jan Sangharsh Samiti (Sinhachavar) and the National Alliance of People’s Movements (NAPM), is an effort to highlight the state of affairs in these 2 districts in UP, and hopefully, redress the situation.

Nandlal Prasad (referred to as “Nandlal Master” by the villagers), who is the main coordinator of the rally has appealed for the “cooperation, collaboration, participation and assistance” to the march and the rally., and support the affected villagers of the 2 districts. The appeal, which is also an invitation to individuals and organizations to join this protest, can be found at http://www.indiaresource.org/campaigns/coke/2004/baliamehdiganjmarch.html
Prominent activists who would be a part of the protest are: Surendra Mohan, Aruna Roy, Sandeep Pandey, Raghu Thakur, Siddhraj Dhadha. The total budget of the march is Rs. 103,700 and any contributions towards this would greatly assist the villagers.

This protest is a timely reminder that community-based movements have immense power, irrespective of the immediate results/effects of those movements. And in a local, yet more global way, it throws light on the immense power of water to change lives and ways of life.

Contact can be established by phone [+91-542-2632433, +91-9415300520] or by email [napm_up@yahoo.com]. Contributions can be made by cheques or drafts in favor of Nandlal Prasad or NAPM, payable at Varanasi. These can be mailed to:
Office, Lok Samiti
Mehdiganj, Rajatalab
Varanasi - 221311 , UP.