THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Environmental expert of the Plachimada High Power Committee S Faizi, in a reply to the Union Home Minister on the arguments of the Coca Cola company, has stated that there is no provision in the Presidential assent issuing process for the Central Government to entertain legal opinion prepared on behalf of a private sector company on a Bill passed by a State Assembly. “However, if the opinion of the company was entertained then natural justice demanded hearing the view of the other side which in this case is the poor Cola victims of Plachimada, more so since the Cola company is supported by the most-powerful government on earth and its diplomatic missions in the country while the Cola victims have no such luxuries to claim,’’ Faizi said. In the reply to the Union Minister for Home P Chidambaram, he said that the groundwater was found to be highly contaminated. Apart from the chloride and hardness pollution, huge levels of cadmium in the sludge generated by the plant was dumped across the village. The investigation conducted by Pollution Control Board in 2003, had found the level of the lethal cadmium in the sludge at 201.8 mg/kg which was more than four times the permissible level of 50 mg/kg as prescribed by the Hazardous Wastes Rules. A comparative study conducted by the Kerala Agricultural University has found high levels of cadmium in cow milk, chicken meat, egg, fodder etc at Plachimada. Analysis of the groundwater data has shown that there was a 10.6-12 metres (below ground level) drop in the groundwater system around the plant area in December 2002 and this has further dropped to 11.4-13 metres in May 2003 in spite of the better rainfall in that year’s summer, in contrast to the rest of Chittoor Block. After the plant was closed in March 2004, the water-level slowly and gradually started rising as was found in May 2004 and May 2006.The High Power Committee has found that the Cola company was using water in this water-scarce area that was to be used for domestic and agricultural purposes, causing water crisis in the area. Plachimada has an annual water deficit of 0.1168 mcm, which means that the 0.1825 mcm that the company was drawing was the water meant for domestic and agricultural/livestock purposes. In conclusion, Faizi has asked the minister to respect the authority of the democratically-elected Assembly to care for the welfare of its citizens, especially the poor and hapless, against a multinational giant who was once expelled from the country and who has scant regard for the country’s laws and statutory bodies, and to forward the Bill to the President so that it becomes law without further delay.
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