: WATER RIGHTS Aug 8 2002

Families Fight Coca-Cola in Kerala for Water

Coca Cola Virudha Samara Samithy (Anti Coca-Cola Struggle Committee) organized a mass rally and public meeting at Plachimada, India on August 4, marking the 105th day of a campaign against the company. A spirited march proceded to the plant, accompanied by many from the surrounding communities, as well as numerous police. Speakers discussed the ongoing theft by Coca-Cola of water throughout the region, poor labor conditions inside the plant, and the complicity of Indian political parties in abetting multi-national corporations.
This ongoing struggle against this plant in the state of Kerala was launched on April 22, with a symbolic blockade and an ongoing continuous picketing/dharna by women and children belonging to the Eravalar and Malasar communities. Hindustan Coca-Cola Beverages Pvt. Ltd established the bottling plant, and subsequently sunk more than 60 borewells on the premises, which is adjacent to a major irrigation canal, and several kilometers from numerous reservoirs and the Chitturpuzha River. Water in the area has both become depleted and polluted.
This more than three month long campaign has included blockades of the plant, lawsuits both against and on behalf of the protestors, destruction of advertisements, and numerous rallies and marches.

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