Anybody remember Plachimada?

The Kerala village, near the town of Palakkad, was once the site of a Coca-Cola bottling plant. The drought-prone village has always been in the news for all the wrong reasons, starting with 2003. Today, the Kerala assembly today passed the Plachimada Coca Cola Victims Relief and Compensation Claims Tribunal Bill, effectively allowing the setting up a special tribunal that can make a $48 million claim on the American beverage giant for alleged environmental and soil degradation, and water contamination caused by its over-extraction of ground water.

The three-member tribunal will have powers to consider petitions for compensation or restitution of property damaged, against the company, arising out of grievances due to violation of laws relating to environment, air and water pollution, according to a report by Press Trust of India. The bill’s approval came after a report by a high-powered committee evaluated the “loss.”

Over the years, Coca-Cola often has characterized the “campaign” against it as being xenophobic by nationalists opposed to the American company. Coca-Cola’s defense on many grounds, principally over-extraction of ground water, might be defensible but not this one. The alleged environmental damage of the region by Coca-Cola was first uncovered by the BBC in 2003, and far more successful campaigns have been waged against the beverage giant in the United States.

Journalists of the British Broadcasting Service commissioned tests on water samples from wells surrounding the Coca-Cola plant as well as a sludge generated by the plant, and liberally handed out to farmers. The tests found that the water and sludge contained toxic substances. It was only after this that the issue came out into the open, leading to global headlines, vigorous protests by the Plachimada village panchayat and court battles.

Coca-Cola has, unsurprisingly, used its public relations prowess to fight off critics, who in 2006 also found that its drinks bottled in India had dangerous levels of pesticides. The pesticide issue is a forgotten one now, probably because all bottlers including rival Pepsi stood accused. But Plachimada has never died down, probably because it has been isolated here, even though Pepsi has a plant not far away. Also, Coca-Cola’s famed PR machinery has been unable to satisfactorily explain the toxic sludge and why it extracted so much water in a known drought-prone area. It is not clear what defense it might have now. Or would it just pay off what is small change for one of the world’s biggest companies?

Coca-Cola officials merely expressed disappointment over the bill, saying it was the result of a “flawed process.” The bill is devoid of facts and scientific data and the company was never offered an opportunity to present its facts and views, the company said in a release.