Setback to Coke in TN: Community vigilance is the only defence against ecological damage

The setback to Coca Cola in Tamil Nadu, in which the state government cancelled the allotment of land to the company at an industrial complex at Perundurai in Erode district because of local opposition, is yet another example of community vigilance protecting precious natural resources. The company was set to establish a Rs 500-crore bottling plant with water from Cauvery river. However, local residents under the umbrella of Tamil Nadu Environmental Safety Movement went up in arms against the project for more than a year. What’s noteworthy is that the ruling AIADMK hadn’t joined a hartal in Perundurai in February organised by political parties, but the government finally gave in to local concerns. This is the second time the multinational soft drinks giant is biting in the dust in Tamil Nadu. Earlier, the company had to give up its plan for a similar plant in Sivaganga following stiff opposition from the local community. The proposed plant would have extracted massive amounts of ground water (about 75,000 litres a day, according to media reports) in a doubt-prone area. [caption id=“attachment_1967813” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Reuters[/caption] The community agitations, both in Sivaganga in 2003 and now in Perundurai, drew a lot of inspiration from the epic battle by the local residents against an operational Coca Cola plant in Plachimada in Kerala. The plant, which became operational in 2000 reportedly drew about half a million litres of ground water every day and rendered the area water-less. Over the next few years, the community and the company fought a legal battle which is now pending in the Supreme Court. The plant however remains closed since 2004. The Left government that came to power in 2006 lent its support to the community in its legal battle. The then health minister had said that “the Government will stand by the people in whichever court the company goes. The right over water and air is the right to live. The Government will not allow stopping of these two lifelines of the people.” At one stage, the manufacture and production of Coca Cola was even banned in the state because of safety concerns. In 2011, a day before its term ended, the Left government even passed a landmark bill to secure compensation for the ecological damage allegedly caused by Coca Cola. Earlier, an expert committee had pegged the damage at Rs 216 crore. In January 2015, the union home ministry asked the state government to withdraw the bill as it conflicted with the provisions of the National Green Tribunal. The story is not over yet. The Plachimada battle is now a legend in community-led agitations and is also a best practice in international development studies and civil society responses. It was a bitter experience for the company as the plant was already operational and the controversy had generated a lot of bad publicity. The company tried to take on the community, and the then state government, through public relations campaigns, but miserably failed. It’s amusing that despite the Plachimada fiasco, Coca Cola went ahead with its plans in nearby Tamil Nadu and failed twice. However, what was redeeming was the community vigilance and the quick response by the state government. In its cancellation of the land allotted to Coca Cola in Perundurai, the government didn’t attribute it to any environmental reasons, but the delay by the company. Coca Cola had faced similar community-led agitations against its water exploitation in other parts of the country too. In Kaladera, in Rajasthan, where the company had a plant, groundwater level had been affected and the villagers had protested for years. Similar protests were also reported from Mehdiganj in Uttar Pradesh. Although Coca Cola gets a lot of bad publicity because of these agitations, exploitation of water, particularly in drought-prone areas, and ecological imbalance are the collateral damage that people have to pay for ill-conceived industrial development. Not just soft drinks companies, sugar mills, power plants, packaged water companies and various small and medium industries also exploit and pollute the sparse water resources. Unfortunately, in most parts of India, the communities are alone in their battle because the governments side with the Big Business in the name of investments and development. What’s lacking is clear water policies by the state governments and social audits of such ecologically damaging projects prior to granting permissions. Coca Cola has faced several such community-led agitations in India and elsewhere in the world, but that does’t stop it from setting up new plants and extracting water in drought-prone areas. The only defence for the communities is the awareness of the perils of such lopsided development and a habitual mistrust of their governments. The tool that has worked for them so far is their vigilance and resilience. The Perundurai experience is yet another example.