Tell Coke to Stop Stealing Water!

Published by

CorpWatch India

| By | Thursday, June 13, 2002

Please Note: This action has been discontinued.

Thank you for your support!

Many of you received a form letter from Coke responding to your fax. Read the response from CorpWatch India to the Coke form letter.

Many thanks to the more than 1,400 of you who faxed your protests to Coke. Unfortunately many of those faxes failed for technical reasons. If you have not heard back from Coke, yours may be one of them. Please feel free to resend it. And if you haven't faxed Coca-Cola yet--the action is still on-going!

--Editor

July 18, 2002

Police Arrest Tribals Protesting Coke's Water Crimes

A soft drinks factory set up by Coca-Cola in Plachimada, Kerala, three years ago has sucked the local aquifers dry. The Coke-induced water scarcity has hit the indigenous peoples (Adivasis) belonging to the Eravalar and Malasar tribes, and the Dalit (oppressed castes) community who live around the factory the worst. The people of Plachimada have seen their wells dry out even as truck loads of soft drinks made their way from the factory to distant markets.

Complaints and requests to the company and the Government were futile. On 22 April, faced with the prospect of a summer without water, the indigenous peoples and the Dalits began an indefinite strike outside the factory gates demanding its closure. After numerous confrontations with the police, on June 9th, the police finally acted openly in favour of the Coca-Cola company by arresting 130 peaceful protestors, including 30 women and 9 children (mostly infants).

Coca-Cola's action of robbing communities of drinking water is unpardonable, as is the Kerala state's shameless acts supporting the US multinational's excesses against the Adivasis and Dalits.

Take action now by writing to the CEO of Coca-Cola, demanding that they shut down their water-intensive bottling plant in Plachimada, Kerala. Or first read the background story, No Water? Drink Coke!

To	Douglas N. Daft Chairman of the Board and CEO The Coca-Cola Company P.O. Box 1734 Atlanta, GA, 30301 USA
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Body: [2000 max characters]	Dear Mr. Daft, <p>You ought to be aware that a soft drinks bottling plant owned by Hindustan Coca-Cola Ltd. in Plachimada, Palghat district, Kerala, India, has sucked the local aquifers dry in the three years of its operation. For more than two years, the indigenous peoples, the Dalits (oppressed castes) and the farmers in the region have protested against Coke's violation of the most fundamental of human rights with no effect. </p> <p>Since April 22, the indigenous peoples belonging to the Eravalar and Malasar tribes, and the Dalits have been forced to picket your factory gates. Faced with a summer without water, the local community has continued its protest till date. </p> <p>Your company continues to extract 800,000 to 1.5 million litres a day even as local communities struggle for drinking water because their wells have run dry. Your company has sought and secured police protection to ensure that the local communities don't come in the way of your company's business. </p> <p>It is shameful and telling that Coca-Cola, a company that professes to be one of the world's largest multinationals, has no reservations in robbing communities of their most fundamental right. </p> <p>We demand that Coca-Cola: </p> <p>1. Shut down its Plachimada plant; </p> <p>2. Apologise to the local communities, particularly the women, for the hardships caused by your factory; </p> <p>3. Own up to its responsibility in destroying the livelihoods and quality of lives of the local communities and take adequate steps to compensate the communities; </p> <p>4. Withdraw all the false cases filed by your company against the protestors. </p> <p>Sincerely,<br /> </p>

AMP Section Name:Human Rights

116 Human Rights