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Communities Reject Coca-Cola in India
By Amit Srivastava
India Resource Center
Coca-Cola
is in trouble in India. Ever since the first allegations arose in Kerala,
India, of water scarcity and polluted water resulting from its bottling
operations, Coca-Cola's public relations department has churned out denials,
insisting that the charges are false and that it is the "target of a
handful of extremist protesters."
Coca-Cola's
global website carries their position on the issue and claims that the
"local communities have welcomed our business as a good corporate
neighbor."
Nothing
could be further from the truth.
It
is time for Coca-Cola to seriously examine and address the adverse impacts
of its operations in India. In fact, Coca-Cola needs to stop treating the
issues in India as a public relations problem and assign it to the
appropriate department that will genuinely address the issues of
over-exploitation of water (leaving the community with scarce water
resources) and pollution of water sources as a result of its operations.
Hindustan Coca-Cola and Bharat Coca-Cola are the Indian subsidiaries of
Coca-Cola.
To
highlight these issues, we are profiling a series of community struggles
against Coca-Cola in India, all of which point to a pattern in the company's
operations. The communities are being left thirsting as Coca-Cola draws
water from the common water resources. Its operations are polluting the
scarce water that remains. The emergence of local, grassroots struggles
against the cola giant's operation in India should also serve as a reminder
to Coca-Cola's bosses in Atlanta that this is not a public relations problem
that one can just "spin" and wish away. Rather, the heart of the
issue is a serious concern about control over natural resources and the
right of communities to determine how business is done in their communities.
Close
to a year after our report on Coca-Cola's
operations in Plachimada, Kerala, the communities in and around
Coca-Cola's facility continue to hold the factory responsible for their
water woes. In fact, the local panchayat (elected body at the village level)
decided in April NOT to renew the license issued to the Coca-Cola factory,
on the grounds of "protecting public interest." Protests, led
primarily by Dalits (formerly untouchable) and Indigenous Peoples, have
continued for over a year against the factory, and new data validates the
charges that Coca-Cola's bottling operations have depleted and contaminated
the ground water. Surendranath C visited the area and filed a report on the
latest stage of the struggle in Plachimada, Kerala.
Local
residents in Mehdiganj, near the holy city of Varanasi, are also gearing up
for a struggle against Coca-Cola.
Coca-Cola has illegally occupied a portion of the common property resources
of the village and was found guilty of evading payment of land revenue by a
local court. Protesters were met at Coca-Cola's factory gates by about 200
police personnel, sent to "protect" the plant along with 50
gun-toting private security guards. This was not all for show-- the
demonstrators were beaten up. The Coca-Cola plant in Mehdiganj enjoys
heavily subsidized electricity and is accused of spewing toxics into
surrounding agricultural fields as well as causing serious water shortage as
a result of its operations. We have a report from Mehdiganj.
In
yet another community, this time in Kudus village in Thane district,
villagers are forced to travel long distances in search of water which has
dried up in their area as a result of Coca-Cola's operations. Villagers are
questioning the subsidized water, land and tax breaks that Coca-Cola
receives from the state, only to leave them thirsting for water. Coca-Cola
has built a pipeline to transport water from a river to its plant, and an
activist opposing the pipeline was detained by police authorities for a
week. We carry a story from the
Times News Network.
And
in a proactive move, more than 7,000 people, mostly women, turned out to
protest a proposed Coca-Cola factory in
Sivaganga, Tamil Nadu. Residents are justifiably worried that
Coca Cola's operations in the area would lead to scarcity of water and
contamination of water. We carry an article from Frontline.
For
Coca-Cola to claim, after being made aware of the community protests all
over India, that "local communities have welcomed our business as a
good corporate neighbor," is nothing short of arrogance. But then, Coca
Cola's arrogance should come as no surprise as it is accustomed to having
its way with governments.
Under
the rules of entry for Coca-Cola into India, it was agreed that Coca-Cola
would divest 49% of its equity stake in India within 5 years. In an
unprecedented move, the government of India seems to have given in to Coca
Cola's pressure, and is on the verge of changing its policy in this regard
to suit Coca Cola's interest. We are faced with a situation where Indian
investors will own 49% of Coca Cola's Indian operations, but have no vote whatsoever!
Just like in the Enron case, the US government played a significant role.
Robert Blackwill, the US ambassador to India, in a letter to Brajesh
Mishra, Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister of India, stated that,
"I would like to bring to your attention, and seek your help in
resolving, a potentially serious investment problem of some significance to
both our countries. The case involves Coca-Cola, one of the largest single
foreign investors in India."
For
a company that has had its way and has access to top US officials, things
are not so rosy after all. Coca-Cola may very well be the most recognizable
brand name in the world but it is also increasingly becoming the target of
ire of local communities around the world as a result of its disregard for
communities and the environment. Community struggles in India against
Coca-Cola are just a few of many that exist and are emerging. Coca-Cola was
also identified as a target of boycott to protest the US led invasion of
Iraq. Sales of Coca-Cola plummeted in
certain areas in India, such as Kerala.
In
an extremely significant case, Coca Cola's main Latin American bottler is facing trial for
allegedly hiring right wing paramilitary forces (aka death squads) to murder
and intimidate trade union organizers, especially from SINALTRAINAL. The
suit has been brought under the Alien Tort Claims Act, which allows
corporations to be sued in the US for crimes committed overseas.
Coca-Cola
is also the target of an international campaign demanding that Coca-Cola
guarantee access to care and treatment for all their employees and their
families living with HIV/AIDS, especially in the African continent where
Coca-Cola is a major employer.
Holding
Coca-Cola accountable for its pollution, as various communities in India are
trying to do, will not be the first such instance. In May 2003, Coca-Cola de
Panama was fined US$300,000
for polluting Matasnillo River in Panama.
Coca-Cola,
it seems, is on its way to soon earning the reputation that Enron enjoyed in
India. Both Enron and Coca-Cola top the Foreign Direct Investment list
from the US in India. Enron's Indian operations (Dabhol Power Corporation, a
joint venture with Bechtel and General Electric, among others) was the
single largest foreign direct investment in India and became the target of
activists across the country due to irregularities in its manner of carrying
out its business, including the use of armed thugs to suppress opposition.
Indians had shut down Enron long before the financial scandal in the US
brought the entire company down.
Coca-Cola
could soon join that list.
Amit Srivastava is the
coordinator of India Resource Center and Global Resistance.
Courtesy http://www.corpwatchindia.org
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