Dangerous levels of the known carcinogen cadmium have been found in the sludge produced from a Coca-Cola plant in Kerala.
The chemicals were traced in an investigation by BBC Radio 4’s Face The Facts programme and prompted scientists to call for the practice to be halted immediately.
However Sunil Gupta, vice president Coca-Cola denies the allegations saying, “the plant at Palakkad, Kerala, not only complies with all local regulatory requirements but also adheres to the stringent global company standards. It is certified to environment Management Standard ISO 14001.
Professor John Henry who conducted the test said the results have devastating consequences for those living near the areas where his waste has been dumped.“The results have devastating consequences for those living near the areas where this waste has been dumped and for the thousands who depend on crops produced in these fields,” he said.
Face The Facts presenter John Waite visited the plant following complaints from villagers that water supplies were drying up because of the massive quantities of water required by Coca-Cola. Cadmium is a carcinogen and can accumulate in the kidneys, with repeated exposure possibly causing kidney failure.
The problem began on April 22, 2002, when over 2,000 villagers gathered at Hindustan Coca Cola factory in Plachimada, Palghat district, Kerala. The accusation - Coke’s indiscriminate mining of groundwaater has dried up many wells, and contaminated the remainder. Coca-Cola’s bottling plant was set up in 1999, in the middle of fertile agricultural land. Many say the plant is illegal because they have not even obtained clearance for putting agricultural land to non-agricultural uses. Kerala states Land Utilization Act requires prior approval for conducting non-agricultural activities on designated agricultural land.
Given its proximity to a number of reservoirs and irrigation canals, the region has access to healthy groundwater resources. And in 2002, Coke was drawing 1.5 million liters/day from the common groundwater resource and this water mining parched the lands of more than 2000 people residing within 1.2 miles of the factory.
Barely six months after the factory set up, villagers and farmers living around the bottling unit began noticing changes in the quantity and quality of well water. Water from a well in Plachimada, a tribal colony with nearly 100 families living along the eastern wall of the factory, rapidly turned brackish and milky white in color which was found to be unfit for drinking, cooking and bathing.
Other Instances
* Capt Rama Rao, Samriti, Hyderabad accuses Sri Sarvaraya Sugars, bottlers of Kinley, in Khammam of Andhra Pradesh, of drawing 225,000 liters of water per day. "Borewells in Sattupalli village, with a population of 25,000 are reported to have dried up," writes Rao.
* MVR Mineral Water and S R Minerals, bottlers for Cokes Kinley, have been accused of depleting the groundwater in Athur village, 40 kms of Chennai. MVR reportedly extracts 132,000 liters of water daily
"The units are sucking out so much water that farmers are suffering," says A V Chandra, activist with Redhills-based NGO Womens Collective.
* In October 2002,, villagers of Wada taluka, Thane protested were upset over water scarcity in the region and wanted Coca-Cola to suspend its operations at least temporarily.
Coke was asked not to lift water from Vaitarana lake from November 11, 2002. Says Minister of State for Irrigation Balasaheb Thorat, "our investigation did not show any strain on the ground water levels.