The Plachimada Struggle Solidarity Committee has sought greater role for Grama Sabhas in the management of groundwater resources of the State.

Amit Srivastava from the India Resource Center confirms that the Coke Plant in Sinhachawar in Ballia district of UP is being shut down. The management cites 'unbearable losses' as the reason for the shutdown. Local community rejoices.

The government has approved soft drink major Coca-Cola $52.54 million (around Rs 205 crore) investment plan for India. The investment will be made in Hindustan Coca Cola Holdings (HCCH) by its parent company for capital expenditure of Hindustan Coca Beverages (HCCB), the bottling subsidiary of Coke.

Report from the first two days of the National Water Conference in Varanasi presents a broad range of discussions by members of local communities near Varanasi and representatives from communities affected by water from across India.

Over 1500 people marched to the Mehdiganj bottling plant that is operating without environmental authorization and demanded it shut down.

In a major blow to the Coca-Cola company in India, a report by its ally, the Energy and Resources Institute (TERI), has called for the closure of one of its bottling plants in India - in the village of Kala Dera in the state of Rajasthan. An India Resource Center Report.

Responding to a request under RTI, the GoI Hydrology department has shown that water levels in 9 out of 13 stations in Varanasi district have fallen below drought conditions; yet, the Coca Cola plant continues to pump water out of the ground.

University of Illinois is the third university this summer -- following Smith College in the U.S. and the Banaras Hindu University in India -- to have terminated its beverage contract with Coca-Cola.

Jal Adhikar Yatra (March for Right to Water) began in Mehdiganj, Varanasi, on September 10, 2006, and shall conclude in Delhi on October 5, 2006. This is led by people directly ill-effected by Coca Cola Plant in Mehdiganj who are demanding access to water and protection from indiscriminate siphoning of water by large companies.

Veerendra Kumar, Member of Parliament from Kerala presents an open letter questioning the government's position vis-a-vis Coke and Pepsi, the content in their beverages and policies relating to them.

The Anticocacola struggle commitee staged a Dharna in front of Kerala Pollution Control Board DisrtictOffice Palghat 0n Sept 2. More than three hunderd people including women from Plachimada took part in the Dharna.

It is not surprising that the US government has stepped in to try and protect the interests of Coke and Pepsi in India.

Pepsi and Coke have come under intense pressure in India in the last week following another CSE investigation showing higher levels of pesticides in 11 brands of Coke and Pepsi collected from bottling plants in 25 states.

In a preliminary survey conducted by Swadesh Science Movement of India(Delhi) with in the Mehndiganj area where the Coca-Cola plant is based, the water level in the villages of Nagepur, Bhikaripur and Mehndiganj villages have decreased to 27, 43 and 32 feet respectively.

Student parliaments at four universities in Germany: the University of Cologne, University of Bonn, University of Wuppertal and the University of Arts have vowed to wage campaigns to ban the sale and marketing of Coca-Cola products from their campuses.

There has been increasing support of protests against the Colas in USA. In Europe, Coca-Cola's regional subsidiary 8.66 million euros for discriminating against retailers

Villagers in Mehdiganj, 20 km from Varanasi are sitting on an indefinite dharna outside and Coca Cola bottling plant since March 23^rd, 2006 demanding the closure of the plant. Bollywood director, Mahesh Bhatt, presents support to the dharna.

The Mehdiganj dharna against the continued withdrawal of water by Coke continues past its 50th day even as the local administration has announced that water table has dropped past critical levels. On the other hand, Coca Cola company continues to spin as Times of India reports that Coke pays money to retailers to suppress reports of dirt and insects in the drinks.

People in Mehdiganj along with local groups including Lok Samiti led by Nandlal Master(r) continue their protests against the bottling plant .

With Magsasay awardee Rajendra Singh adding his voice to the protests against Pepsi and Coke and their exploitative water policies, the strike in Mehndiganj received another boost.

With increasing obesity among children in the US, the American Heart Association and William J. Clinton Foundation brokered a deal to end sales and distribution of almost all �Soft Drinks� in elementary and middle schools. When will this happen in India?

With bugs, a condom and iron being found in beverages sold by Pepsi and Coke, not just in India but also in Japan, one has to ask whether these companies focused on cost cutting have no eye for their processes?

On the 4th anniversary of the Plachimada People�s Struggle, a community seminar including the adivasis of the affected areas came up with a water policy that would address the needs of people. Ajayan, the convener of Plachimada Solidarity Committee presents the resolution.

Coca Cola spends about 70% of its profits on media, image building and publicity. And yet, at the share holders meeting in Delaware, under pressure from a large number of global communities for its unethical practices, its wheels seemed to be coming off.

With the number of visitors dropping in to express solidarity with the Mehdiganj anti-Coke movement on hunger strike, the movement decided to have a special gathering on the 16th day of the strike.

After having argued that there was no people�s movement against Coke in Mehdiganj, it was ironic that Kalyan Ranjan, P. R. Manager of Hindustan Coca Cola Ltd., was quite eager to meet with the Mehdiganj community on the first day of their indefinite hunger strike on 23rd of March. But that was not the only irony

It seems like Coke was dealt a double whammy. A government committee in Maharashtra and the Green Party in the USA are recommending banning Coke and Pepsi products.

Green party resolution on Coke and Pepsi.

The local Mehdiganj community has called for a local protest against Coca Cola to begin on 23rd March.

The Cola giants are under fire around the world for unethical corporate practices. Community groups are increasingly demanding that Coke and Pepsi stop externalizing their costs and exploiting communities.

Protesters want to do a plant visit, with police protection.

The local self government (panchayat) in Ballia, in the state of U.P., led by headwoman Chinta Devi, passed a resolution to take back village land that the local Coca Cola plant has illegally occupied.

Having identified the evil designs and the plans of plunder of the World Trade Organisation, which has been, since inception, the handmaid of Transnational Corporations trying to shape national policies in order to strengthen their global control over political, economic and cultural life resulting in the globalisation of misery to the masses in the two thirds of the world in general and to the Indian masses in particular,

Communities around bottling plants are becoming increasingly affected by and reacting to unethical practices by Coke in India.

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.

On 24th November, 2004, over 400 citizens from local communities around the Raja Talab Coke bottling plant were beaten up and carted away in police vans for protesting against Coke policies. On 24th November, 2005, a rally of about 800 people protested outside the plant to mark the anniversary of the protests.

On 14th October, a (rally) dharna was organized by Bunkar Dastkar Adhikar Manch (weavers and artisans forum) before District Magistrate Varanasi to protest the policies of WTO, IMF and World Bank.

Samalochana is organising a padayatra (march) urging people to stop consuming soft drinks and also mobilse peoples opinion against government accepting WTO norms in the wake of Hongkong conference in December2005.

An open letter to AB, AK, AR, KK, SRK, SRT, and the rest of the Indian cricket team and bollywood asking whether it is appropriate that they continue to endorse a product that dumps huge externalities on local communities, exploiting their rights and oppressing them.

The story of Nandlal Prasad, born into a weaver’s family near Varanasi, now leads a people’s movement in Varanasi.

About Dr. Sandeep Pandey , Itinerary Details , Issues and Topics , Tour Updates

With the entry of Puthiya Thamizhagam, a powerful dalit political party, villagers in Tirunelveli district have gained an ally in their battle against a controversial Coca-Cola bottling plant that, they say, will divert scarce river water to the multinational. This article first appeared in InfoExchange India

In late September Nandlal Prasad, a community activist from Mehdiganj, near Varansi, who has been raising community issues regarding the depletion of water in the area owing to the bottling plant of Coke and toxic dumping in the area by the plant, was denied renewal of his passport.

Communities around India, most specifically in the vicinity of bottling plants, are using democratic processes through boycotts and campaigns to demand transparency of operations of Coca Cola and to demand that it stop operations if the company cannot end processes that are affecting lives and livelihoods of people in the vicinity of these plants.

Sandeep Pandey said that he went through some anxious moments during a 2 hour interrogation by US Immigration at San Francisco Airport. He adds, “I must commend the understanding behavior of the US Security Personnel who gave me a patient hearing and appreciated my critique of the position of the US government.”

Dr. K. Krishmasamy, MD, is one of the leaders of the anti-Coca Cola movement in Gangaikondan. In an interview on 18th September, at the conclusion of a 1000 cycle rally opposing the plant, he spoke about the reasons for this opposition.

Critique of the practices of Coca Cola and Pepsico, and the protests by communities in India, are being labeled as liberal, anti-development and unwarranted. A free market analysis – an analysis within the capitalist framework – also shows that these practices are unethical.

There is new trouble brewing for Coca Cola in Tamil Nadu. A bottling plant planned in Gangaikondan SIPCOT Industrial Estate is to withdraw about 5 lakh liters of water from the Thamirabarani River, is drawing opposition from political leaders, community members and activists.

For the last two years, Sinaltrainal has marked 22nd July as its day of campaign against Coke. It commemorates the anniversary of the day one of the leaders of this union that works with beverage, hotel and service workers in Colombia was gunned down, allegedly at the behest of Coca Cola.

Over a dozen communities have been directly affected by the activities of bottling plants owned by Coca Cola India. Water quality has degraded, toxic waste has been dumped, land has been illegally occupied, people protesting these activities in a non-violent fashion in public spaces have been beaten up and allegedly bribes have been paid.

What is the role of the various arms of our government? Is it to protect the interest of the people of our country, or are their other interests that concern it? And when its interests become unclear, is it not the right of its citizens to ask questions and expect answers? The first article in this series reviews the role of the government and the administration in a people’s campaign against the exploitation by Coca Cola in Varanasi.

On 1st June, the High Court of Kerala passed a ruling that the Coca Cola plant in India could begin operation without a license from the local Panchayat as well as without approval of the State Pollution Board – a ruling that raises more questions.

In an unprecedented move, a division bench of the High Court of Kerala on June 1, 2005 has directed the Perumatty panchayat (village council) to renew Coca-Cola's license to re-open its bottling plant in Plachimada, Kerala, in southern India. India Resource Center says that the struggle will intensify.

This is an update of awareness events and activities of the anti-coca cola campaign following the verdict from Kerala High Court.

This is an update of events and activities of the anti-coca cola campaign in the USA following the verdict from Kerala High Court.

The last month has been very hectic for those involved in the Anti- Coca Cola campaign across the globe, especially in India and the USA, where a verdict from the Kerala High Court sparked off protests and agitations. This update is about the activities in India.

The High Court of Kerala, in a ruling that surprised many, said that Coca-Cola can extract up to 500,000 (5 lakhs) liters of water per day. The High Court has ruled that the Perumatty panchayat (which denied Coke the license) has 15 days to reconsider the application. This means that Coca-Cola has to apply again to the Perumatty panchayat for a license to operate.

Martin Espada, who teaches poetry at the University of
Massachuesetts at Amherst and is the author of several books talks to CounterPunch about why he refused money from Coca Cola for his poetry reading at Kansas University.

An article in The Nation profiles a campaign that is growing rapidly in Universities across North America and even Europe demanding Coca Cola be held responsible for its human right violations.

Student groups across universities and college campuses in the USA and Europe are beginning to recognize the unethical actions of Coca Cola and passing resolutions to keep Coca Cola off their campuses.

While one might make a personal decision not to consume Coke or Pepsi products, there have to be strong and clear reasons for a group to suggest public boycott of these products.

The Coca Cola Company has been denounced by various communities, organizations and grassroots movements for violating basic human and environmental rights.

Slums.

We city dwellers have quite strong opinions about them.

There has been a spate of allegations against multinationals in the last few months, numerous protests against their practices, in the last few months. Is this the case of overactive NGOs?

Corporate Accountability International, along with numerous other local organizations cited Coke for its unethical practices in India

On this 20th anniversary of Bhopal, there is another kind of destruction that we must turn our attention to � the extensive pumping out of millions of liters of water from hundreds of sites around the world, primarily by Coca Cola and Pepsi.

On the morning of 23rd November, 2004, at the city hall, Minneapolis, Corporate Accountability International (CAI) held a press conference highlighting the unethical behavior of the Atlanta based Coca Cola. It cited numerous instances where Coke has been draining out the water table in communities that are having trouble accessing clean drinking water.

In response to increasing demonstrations against Coca Cola, and specifically in response to march planned from November 15-24, 2004, the company put out advertisements in newspapers raising various questions.

“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.

On June 25th, the meeting on South Asian Judicial Interaction on Environmental Justice and Equity ended with a key declaration that gives the judiciary of these South Asian nations the responsibility of protecting the biodiversity of this region and providing for environmental justice in the face of increasing environmental exploitation. What are the implications of this declaration?

Water companies, on the other hand, argue that the process efficiencies associated with private enterprise will lower the cost of delivering water to the public, and therefore make water more affordable to the urban poor.