quit Plachimada; quit india
THE STORY OF ANTI COCA-COLA STRUGGLE
AT PLACHIMADA IN KERALA
"They came to our village with glittering offers; that our people would get many job opportunities in the plant; the overall development of our village would be taken care of; the economic growth of the area would be strengthened etc., etc. We waited and waited… nothing miraculous happened. On the contrary, six months went by, slowly we started facing the reverse effects. Except a few, nobody from the locality was given jobs. The water level in the wells of the surrounding colonies showed a sharp depletion. The quality of the water- its odour, taste, hardness- got worsened. It became non-potable. We stopped using it. We were forced to fetch water from a distance of three to five kilometres. Several uncommon diseases started showing their neck out. The farmers around the plant stopped cultivation due to severe shortage of water. This was another thunderbolt on us that took away our daily little earnings. We were forced to migrate to faraway lands, seeking for some work or other to make our living. Suddenly we felt terribly helpless, facing the fact that we were being robbed. Our precious water resource had been stolen… lakhs of liters every day… Where would I get some fresh and pure drinking water any more? How many kilometers should we have to walk to fetch a drop of water? Who will compensate the heavy loss incurred upon us by this giant plant?"
THE DEMISE OF A VILLAGE
These lamentations synchronized with anger and despair are from a 55 year old lady, Mylamma, a resident of Vijayanagar colony in Plachimada village in the southern Indian state of Kerala, situated adjacent to the mega bottling plant of Hindustan Coca-Cola Beverages Pvt. Ltd. company. She is one among the firebrand leaders of the anti-coca cola struggle of Plachimada, which took off about two years back. Mylamma is not the only person who declares that ‘ Coca-cola should quit Plachimada’ but there are also thousands of others who reside in the five most affected colonies of Perumatty Panchayat. These villagers, mostly schedule castes and schedule tribes are predominantly landless agricultural labourers living at the brink of acute poverty, hunger, diseases, lack of pure drinking water and many other grave ecological hazards. The slow death of this village had already begun. Velur Swaminathan who pioneered the struggle and presently the Convener of the Anti Coca-Cola Action Council states:
"These problems started only after the company came here. In the beginning we were not aware of the consequences. So we expected nothing serious would happen at its arrival. But after about six months we started experiencing the problems one after another."
Mylamma asks:
"If, within a period of three years, they can cause this much damage what would be the situationafter ten or fifteen years? And who will answer the sad plight of our children in the coming years, living in a barren land and cursing their parents for giving them birth."
Today the people of Plachimada, except a few who work in the plant, are unitedly decided that the plant must be closed down immediately. The whole question of an MNC ruthlessly exploiting the natural resource of a people and even challenging the constitutional power of the local body is to be addressed in terms of legal and political dimensions. The tide of globalisation engulfs every basic aspects of life and water is one among these fundamentals. The new mantra of the market is privatization of the common properties such as land, ponds, rivers, grazing fields, etc. It is being argued that only by privatizing water we can avert the potentially dangerous situation of acute water scarcity. However, this would have a dramatic effect of hydrological poverty by the year 2025. By declaring water a commodity, an economic good to be measured, apportioned and regulated by corporations the MNC’s think that the tide of disaster can be contained. As an action agenda thefull cost- pricing of water supply scheme is being executed as well as the exploitation of ground water for the production of soft drinks. In order to execute this wonderful agenda a vigorous and dynamic action plan to privatize the world’s water resources are on the way with the whole hearted support and blessing of the national governments. The MNC’s dictate terms with the state bypassing the local bodies and its constitutional authority.
Programs which transfer existing government-managed water systems to private firms, financially autonomous utilities and water user associations are being implemented in Latin America (Argentina, Colombia, and Mexico); Asia (Bangladesh, Indonesia, Nepal, Pakistan, The Philippines and Sri Lanka); Africa (Côte d’lvoire, Madagascar, Morocco, Niger, Senegal and Tunisia); and Eastern Europe (Hungary). The Cochabamba experience in Bolivia is a telling example of the perils of privatization of water and the people’s resistance against it. The situation in Plachimada is also no different and coca-cola is well managing with it.
Noted environmentalist C.R.Neelakandan explains that water is a gift and not a commodity. He argues that there is a hidden politics behind the commodification of natural resources.
"Like blood for a living body, so as water for earth. Like blood water is essential for life. Therefore pricing water is anti nature; anti life. Water is a gift only nature can provide. But man with his technology makes it a priceable commodity. He converts it as a private property. He thinks that it is a tool with which he can make profit. He makes us believe that pipe water is better than well water; bottled water is the best. The capital powers catch hold of the power over water by defining and determining its availability and purity.
The puritan left who thinks that the right for the distribution of water is the priority of the government cannot see the politics behind this. What is our right to oppose the selling of rivers? Or who has the right to oppose? Who is the owner of the river? These are political questions related to the power over natural resources should be urgently addressed with."
THE LOCALITY
Plachimada is located in a rain shadow region in Chittur taluk of the Palakkad district in the south Indian state of Kerala. It is part of the Moolathara village, which is one among the three villages of Perumatty Gramapanchayat. The other two adjacent villages are Perumatty and Vandithavalam. Perumatty Panchayat comes under the Chittur Block Panchayat and part of Pattancherry zilla panchayat division. Sokanassini River in the north, Tamilnadu and Pattancherry Panchayat in the south, Tamilnadu in the east and Pattancherry Panchayat in the west form the boundary of Perumatty Panchayat. There are 15 wards in the Panchayat and the total area is 60.79 sq. kilometers. According to 19991 census, the population of the Panchayat is 29,658 of which 14,918 are males and 14,740 are females.
The Moolathara village falling in the Palakkad gap of Westernghats, shows gently undulating topography and is drained by Chittur puzha stream, a major tributary of Bharathapuzha river. Though the region gets very little rainfall compared to other parts of Kerala, the groundwater reserve was sufficiently adequate for the domestic purposes of the people. A report of the Groundwater Department of Kerala acknowledges this fact by stating," Although the area has less rainfall than the coastal region of the state, conditions for groundwater recharge are better here because of the gently undulating nature of the terrain."
Plachimada gets very little rainfall. In 1998 the average rainfall in Palakkad district was 2425.8 mm.which had shown a considerable decline of 1750.3 mm. in 2002. At the same time, the average rainfall of Kerala during the current year was 2515.1 mm. (Appendix 1 ) This indicates that the entire region has to rely upon dam irrigation canals and ground water resources for domestic and agricultural water requirements. A large number of borewells have been dug in recent years in the area, which was deepened by the users as the water levels depleted. Apart from this, three surface water reservoirs and the canals from Meenkara dam provide water for irrigation in the region. A large area of the poonthal padam, a traditional slushy paddy land which dries up in summer, with a unique and different eco system, of Palakkad district lies in the Perumatty Panchayat, the second largest Panchayat in the district. This Panchayat has 2350 hc of rice fields out of which1500 hc are in Moolathara village where the factory is located. 35 per cent of the state’s rice production is from Palakkad district and hence it has long been known as the ‘rice chest’ of Kerala.
The socio-ECONOMIC scenario
The social composition of those living in Plachimada is rather complex due to their origin, cast-class differences, economic standard and labour pattern. The majority of them came from rural Tamilnadu and settled here about 20 years ago. The migration took place in search of labour and easy access to livelihood. The indigenous people viz. Eravalar and Malasar too live here. The education and health status of the local population who are highly vulnerable, remain abysmally low. The villagers, mostly schedule castes and schedule tribes are predominantly landless agricultural labourers and other daily wage labourers. They get around 100 to120 work days in an year.
THE STUDY AT PLACHIMADA
Vikas AdhyayanKendra, Mumbai, conducted a preliminary socio-economic survey in five colonies in the vicinity of the factory. Three of them, Vijaya Nagar, Plachimada, and Rajiv Nagar colonies share a boundary with the bottling plant are the worst-affected residential areas. They are situated within one to two Km. radius. Madhavan Nair and Kampalathara colonies, about three kms north east of the factory are also affected. Rajiv Nagar colony is from Pattancherry Panchayat while all other colonies are in Perumatty panchayat. According to the demographic details availed by the Panchayat, the population in all these five colonies consist of 34% of tribals, 10% of dalits and 56% of other communities. ( Appendix 2 )
The survey team observed some alarming findings with regard to the economic, agricultural and health situations in the colonies adjacent to the factory.
ECONOMIC SITUATION
They work an average 4 to5 days a week. A male worker gets an average wage of Rs.80/- per day whereas a female worker gets only Rs.50/-. About 10% in the sample are farmers, 35% are farm laborers and the rest are daily wageworkers such as coolie workers, wood-cutters, toddy-tappers, weavers, drivers, barbers, etc. ( Appendix 3 )
There is no significant difference between the distant Kampalathara village and the four adjacent villages. In the near villages, many members complained of loss of jobs in the agricultural sector. Murukaraj(38) a resident of Vijayanagar colony describes the present situation of the availability of work in the area:
"Earlier, i.e., before the Company came to our village, we used to get five to six days of work every week. We worked in the nearby farms where we had ample chances of work during the seasons. On off-season days we went for some other daily wage works in and around our village. After six months since the Company started functioning the farms got dried-up and we lost our jobs."
More than 90% of the residents of the most affected colonies supported the view that the availability of job opportunities in nearby farms and other areas decreased after the Company started functioning. 5.3% voted for the view that job opportunities increased after the Company’s inception and 4.1% did not think any change. ( Appendix 4 )
The major calamity caused by the functioning of the Company on the economic fabric of Plachimada can be found in the acute non-availability of job opportunities and change in labour patterns. A well-contained employment structure is shattered and as a result people are forced to migrate elsewhere, sometimes more than 50Km. away, to look for new job opportunities. This creates displacement and terrible hardships. Normally this income, which they get, will not tally with the expenses incurred by travel and other incidentals.
For 40% of the households surveyed the annual income is about Rs.30,000/-, 33% gets Rs.30,000/- to Rs.46,000/- and for 27% the annual household income is above Rs.46,000/- (Appendix 5 ). However, the indebtedness of each family in comparison with their income shows the gravity of the alarming economic crisis of the region due to unemployment, caused by the unethical functioning of the Coca-Cola Company. 43.5% of the population is having a debt of upto Rs. 5000. 42.9% is in between Rs.5000 to Rs. 50000. The indebtedness of 13.6% is above Rs. 50000. ( Appendix 6 ) This is a recurring phenomenon happens at an interval of every three to six months.
AGRICULTURE
The major livelihoods of the people of Plachimada are agriculture and agro-based labour forms. Although rice, coconut, groundnut are the major crops, vegetables, horse gram, maize mango, sugar cane, and banana are cultivated intermittently. According to a study by Jananeethi, a social organization in Kerala, the Panchayat has a diverse soil profile ranging from red soil, black cotton soil, clay soil etc. South West Monsoon is the main source of rainfall. Cultivation is mostly confined to plain lands. The Poonthal padam (marshy lands) cultivation of rice exist here. Saninayakam, Chembavu and Chitteni were the main rice varities used in Poonthal padam during the earlier years. The factory is being constructed in this poonthal padam area reclamation of which is not legally permitted under the KLU, (Kerala Land Utilization Act, 1967).
The farmers surveyed have an average land holding of 3 to 5 acres. 90% of the agricultural land in the area is wet land and 10% is dry land. (Appendix 7) All the farmers who have lands within two kilometer from the factory reported paucity of ground waters. The duration of working of pumps have more than halved during the past two years. This has led to a decrease in production of food crops such as paddy, coconut, vegetables and groundnuts. This had a spiraling effect on other sectors of economy as well, leading to a net loss of livelihood to several people.
Krishnaswami (42), a farmer of Kampalathara colony narrates the history of the farming activities of the area and the present day situation:
"I have eight acres of agricultural land. Around 30 workers used to work in this land every day. Till the year 2000 my yield was sufficiently good. On a regular basis, I used to sell vegetables in the markets of Meenakshipuram, Koduvayur, Palakkad, and Trissur. Today I don’t cultivate anything in the land. I used to cultivate paddy for two seasons per year. The production from one acre in one season would be around 24000kilogram. Today I stopped cultivating paddy and vegetables due to acute water shortage. Earlier I was able to pump sufficient water for 20 hours using a 5Hp motor from my well which is only about 24ft deep. It was from this well I used to give water to the farm of Ligamuthu Gounder, which is about two and a half Kilometers away.The coconut production was also at its peak. Normally I got 6000 coconuts from an area of seven acres. But today I don’t even get 1500 coconuts. My monthly income was about Rs.2000/- per month till the year 2000. Today my elder brother has to work as a lorry driver for our livelihood.
I definitely believe that all these problems erupted since the company started its functioning here. I strongly support the view that coca-cola must quit Plachimada at the earliest because our lives are in ditches after they came here."
The survey results show that there is sharp decrease in the production since the Company started its functioning. The paddy production has almost come to a stand still whereas the production of coconut and vegetables decreased below half times.
( Appendix 8 )
The irrigation system, which was comfortably managed by the farmers, was also damaged beyond repair due to the depletion of groundwater in the area. (Appendix 9 )The farmers complained that the organic components in the soil were heavily destroyed due to the depletion of water and the use of the sludge, which adversely affected the yield of the land.
Health Status
Majority of the people living in the nearby villages are adivasis or dalits. They mainly depend on the government hospital. The Primary Health Centre (PHC) is three kilometers from Plachimada. Diseases and symptoms, which the people attribute to the environmental pollution by the cola factory, are given in table. Diseases with high relative risks in the adjacent villages are hair-loss, burning of eyes, cough, vomiting, pain in limbs etc. Hair loss is 13 times higher in the adjacent village. Burning in eye similarly, 7 times higher in the adjacent village. ( Appendix 10 )
MEDICAL CAMP
In the context of these health problems detected during the survey, a medical camp was organized by a medical team comprising Dr.M.N.Anuvarudheen, Dr.K.Muralidharan and DR.T.P.Jayaraman on the 2nd of November 2003. This was the first of its kind after the installation of the plant at Plachimada. Only those who are enlisted in the survey with complaints of certain health problems were subjected to medical examination. 212 patients attended the camp and were examined by the team of doctors. The age group ranged from 4 months to 75 years and after the medical camp they were divided in to three age group categories.
4 months to 16 years
20-49 years
50-75 years
The most prominent symptom seen in all the age groups was anaemia. That too, more than 50% in the pediatric group. Marked numbers with anaemia were seen in other age groups as well. In the 2nd and 3rd categories the next important complaints were joint pain and general weakness. Stomach pain was also seen in appreciable numbers. About 15 persons complained of abnormal fall of hair. The major complaint seen in all age group, especially paediatric age group, is anaemia and this could have been written off as seen in any backward area due to malnutrition and poverty. But at Plachimada, where the Coka- Cola factory extensively distributed solid waste as manure which contained toxic substances like lead and cadmium, one cannot simply attribute the problem of anaemia to the above-mentioned reasons alone. It is very evident that these toxic materials found in the solid waste have entered in to the ecosystem and as a result to the human body system. That means this must have exerted some effect on the health problems, which are very rampant in the area. Abnormal hair falling and itching over the body can be seen as an effect of the use of bad quality water. The medical team, therefore, seriously recommended further indepth and authentic investigation by the authorities on the health problems created by the toxic substances like lead and cadmium.
Health hazards of lead and cadmium
On chronic ingestition of lead can cause chronic lead poisoning with features:
THE STORY OF ANTI COCA-COLA STRUGGLE
AT PLACHIMADA IN KERALA
"They came to our village with glittering offers; that our people would get many job opportunities in the plant; the overall development of our village would be taken care of; the economic growth of the area would be strengthened etc., etc. We waited and waited… nothing miraculous happened. On the contrary, six months went by, slowly we started facing the reverse effects. Except a few, nobody from the locality was given jobs. The water level in the wells of the surrounding colonies showed a sharp depletion. The quality of the water- its odour, taste, hardness- got worsened. It became non-potable. We stopped using it. We were forced to fetch water from a distance of three to five kilometres. Several uncommon diseases started showing their neck out. The farmers around the plant stopped cultivation due to severe shortage of water. This was another thunderbolt on us that took away our daily little earnings. We were forced to migrate to faraway lands, seeking for some work or other to make our living. Suddenly we felt terribly helpless, facing the fact that we were being robbed. Our precious water resource had been stolen… lakhs of liters every day… Where would I get some fresh and pure drinking water any more? How many kilometers should we have to walk to fetch a drop of water? Who will compensate the heavy loss incurred upon us by this giant plant?"
THE DEMISE OF A VILLAGE
These lamentations synchronized with anger and despair are from a 55 year old lady, Mylamma, a resident of Vijayanagar colony in Plachimada village in the southern Indian state of Kerala, situated adjacent to the mega bottling plant of Hindustan Coca-Cola Beverages Pvt. Ltd. company. She is one among the firebrand leaders of the anti-coca cola struggle of Plachimada, which took off about two years back. Mylamma is not the only person who declares that ‘ Coca-cola should quit Plachimada’ but there are also thousands of others who reside in the five most affected colonies of Perumatty Panchayat. These villagers, mostly schedule castes and schedule tribes are predominantly landless agricultural labourers living at the brink of acute poverty, hunger, diseases, lack of pure drinking water and many other grave ecological hazards. The slow death of this village had already begun. Velur Swaminathan who pioneered the struggle and presently the Convener of the Anti Coca-Cola Action Council states:
"These problems started only after the company came here. In the beginning we were not aware of the consequences. So we expected nothing serious would happen at its arrival. But after about six months we started experiencing the problems one after another."
Mylamma asks:
"If, within a period of three years, they can cause this much damage what would be the situationafter ten or fifteen years? And who will answer the sad plight of our children in the coming years, living in a barren land and cursing their parents for giving them birth."
Today the people of Plachimada, except a few who work in the plant, are unitedly decided that the plant must be closed down immediately. The whole question of an MNC ruthlessly exploiting the natural resource of a people and even challenging the constitutional power of the local body is to be addressed in terms of legal and political dimensions. The tide of globalisation engulfs every basic aspects of life and water is one among these fundamentals. The new mantra of the market is privatization of the common properties such as land, ponds, rivers, grazing fields, etc. It is being argued that only by privatizing water we can avert the potentially dangerous situation of acute water scarcity. However, this would have a dramatic effect of hydrological poverty by the year 2025. By declaring water a commodity, an economic good to be measured, apportioned and regulated by corporations the MNC’s think that the tide of disaster can be contained. As an action agenda thefull cost- pricing of water supply scheme is being executed as well as the exploitation of ground water for the production of soft drinks. In order to execute this wonderful agenda a vigorous and dynamic action plan to privatize the world’s water resources are on the way with the whole hearted support and blessing of the national governments. The MNC’s dictate terms with the state bypassing the local bodies and its constitutional authority.
Programs which transfer existing government-managed water systems to private firms, financially autonomous utilities and water user associations are being implemented in Latin America (Argentina, Colombia, and Mexico); Asia (Bangladesh, Indonesia, Nepal, Pakistan, The Philippines and Sri Lanka); Africa (Côte d’lvoire, Madagascar, Morocco, Niger, Senegal and Tunisia); and Eastern Europe (Hungary). The Cochabamba experience in Bolivia is a telling example of the perils of privatization of water and the people’s resistance against it. The situation in Plachimada is also no different and coca-cola is well managing with it.
Noted environmentalist C.R.Neelakandan explains that water is a gift and not a commodity. He argues that there is a hidden politics behind the commodification of natural resources.
"Like blood for a living body, so as water for earth. Like blood water is essential for life. Therefore pricing water is anti nature; anti life. Water is a gift only nature can provide. But man with his technology makes it a priceable commodity. He converts it as a private property. He thinks that it is a tool with which he can make profit. He makes us believe that pipe water is better than well water; bottled water is the best. The capital powers catch hold of the power over water by defining and determining its availability and purity.
The puritan left who thinks that the right for the distribution of water is the priority of the government cannot see the politics behind this. What is our right to oppose the selling of rivers? Or who has the right to oppose? Who is the owner of the river? These are political questions related to the power over natural resources should be urgently addressed with."
THE LOCALITY
Plachimada is located in a rain shadow region in Chittur taluk of the Palakkad district in the south Indian state of Kerala. It is part of the Moolathara village, which is one among the three villages of Perumatty Gramapanchayat. The other two adjacent villages are Perumatty and Vandithavalam. Perumatty Panchayat comes under the Chittur Block Panchayat and part of Pattancherry zilla panchayat division. Sokanassini River in the north, Tamilnadu and Pattancherry Panchayat in the south, Tamilnadu in the east and Pattancherry Panchayat in the west form the boundary of Perumatty Panchayat. There are 15 wards in the Panchayat and the total area is 60.79 sq. kilometers. According to 19991 census, the population of the Panchayat is 29,658 of which 14,918 are males and 14,740 are females.
The Moolathara village falling in the Palakkad gap of Westernghats, shows gently undulating topography and is drained by Chittur puzha stream, a major tributary of Bharathapuzha river. Though the region gets very little rainfall compared to other parts of Kerala, the groundwater reserve was sufficiently adequate for the domestic purposes of the people. A report of the Groundwater Department of Kerala acknowledges this fact by stating," Although the area has less rainfall than the coastal region of the state, conditions for groundwater recharge are better here because of the gently undulating nature of the terrain."
Plachimada gets very little rainfall. In 1998 the average rainfall in Palakkad district was 2425.8 mm.which had shown a considerable decline of 1750.3 mm. in 2002. At the same time, the average rainfall of Kerala during the current year was 2515.1 mm. (Appendix 1 ) This indicates that the entire region has to rely upon dam irrigation canals and ground water resources for domestic and agricultural water requirements. A large number of borewells have been dug in recent years in the area, which was deepened by the users as the water levels depleted. Apart from this, three surface water reservoirs and the canals from Meenkara dam provide water for irrigation in the region. A large area of the poonthal padam, a traditional slushy paddy land which dries up in summer, with a unique and different eco system, of Palakkad district lies in the Perumatty Panchayat, the second largest Panchayat in the district. This Panchayat has 2350 hc of rice fields out of which1500 hc are in Moolathara village where the factory is located. 35 per cent of the state’s rice production is from Palakkad district and hence it has long been known as the ‘rice chest’ of Kerala.
The socio-ECONOMIC scenario
The social composition of those living in Plachimada is rather complex due to their origin, cast-class differences, economic standard and labour pattern. The majority of them came from rural Tamilnadu and settled here about 20 years ago. The migration took place in search of labour and easy access to livelihood. The indigenous people viz. Eravalar and Malasar too live here. The education and health status of the local population who are highly vulnerable, remain abysmally low. The villagers, mostly schedule castes and schedule tribes are predominantly landless agricultural labourers and other daily wage labourers. They get around 100 to120 work days in an year.
THE STUDY AT PLACHIMADA
Vikas AdhyayanKendra, Mumbai, conducted a preliminary socio-economic survey in five colonies in the vicinity of the factory. Three of them, Vijaya Nagar, Plachimada, and Rajiv Nagar colonies share a boundary with the bottling plant are the worst-affected residential areas. They are situated within one to two Km. radius. Madhavan Nair and Kampalathara colonies, about three kms north east of the factory are also affected. Rajiv Nagar colony is from Pattancherry Panchayat while all other colonies are in Perumatty panchayat. According to the demographic details availed by the Panchayat, the population in all these five colonies consist of 34% of tribals, 10% of dalits and 56% of other communities. ( Appendix 2 )
The survey team observed some alarming findings with regard to the economic, agricultural and health situations in the colonies adjacent to the factory.
ECONOMIC SITUATION
They work an average 4 to5 days a week. A male worker gets an average wage of Rs.80/- per day whereas a female worker gets only Rs.50/-. About 10% in the sample are farmers, 35% are farm laborers and the rest are daily wageworkers such as coolie workers, wood-cutters, toddy-tappers, weavers, drivers, barbers, etc. ( Appendix 3 )
There is no significant difference between the distant Kampalathara village and the four adjacent villages. In the near villages, many members complained of loss of jobs in the agricultural sector. Murukaraj(38) a resident of Vijayanagar colony describes the present situation of the availability of work in the area:
"Earlier, i.e., before the Company came to our village, we used to get five to six days of work every week. We worked in the nearby farms where we had ample chances of work during the seasons. On off-season days we went for some other daily wage works in and around our village. After six months since the Company started functioning the farms got dried-up and we lost our jobs."
More than 90% of the residents of the most affected colonies supported the view that the availability of job opportunities in nearby farms and other areas decreased after the Company started functioning. 5.3% voted for the view that job opportunities increased after the Company’s inception and 4.1% did not think any change. ( Appendix 4 )
The major calamity caused by the functioning of the Company on the economic fabric of Plachimada can be found in the acute non-availability of job opportunities and change in labour patterns. A well-contained employment structure is shattered and as a result people are forced to migrate elsewhere, sometimes more than 50Km. away, to look for new job opportunities. This creates displacement and terrible hardships. Normally this income, which they get, will not tally with the expenses incurred by travel and other incidentals.
For 40% of the households surveyed the annual income is about Rs.30,000/-, 33% gets Rs.30,000/- to Rs.46,000/- and for 27% the annual household income is above Rs.46,000/- (Appendix 5 ). However, the indebtedness of each family in comparison with their income shows the gravity of the alarming economic crisis of the region due to unemployment, caused by the unethical functioning of the Coca-Cola Company. 43.5% of the population is having a debt of upto Rs. 5000. 42.9% is in between Rs.5000 to Rs. 50000. The indebtedness of 13.6% is above Rs. 50000. ( Appendix 6 ) This is a recurring phenomenon happens at an interval of every three to six months.
AGRICULTURE
The major livelihoods of the people of Plachimada are agriculture and agro-based labour forms. Although rice, coconut, groundnut are the major crops, vegetables, horse gram, maize mango, sugar cane, and banana are cultivated intermittently. According to a study by Jananeethi, a social organization in Kerala, the Panchayat has a diverse soil profile ranging from red soil, black cotton soil, clay soil etc. South West Monsoon is the main source of rainfall. Cultivation is mostly confined to plain lands. The Poonthal padam (marshy lands) cultivation of rice exist here. Saninayakam, Chembavu and Chitteni were the main rice varities used in Poonthal padam during the earlier years. The factory is being constructed in this poonthal padam area reclamation of which is not legally permitted under the KLU, (Kerala Land Utilization Act, 1967).
The farmers surveyed have an average land holding of 3 to 5 acres. 90% of the agricultural land in the area is wet land and 10% is dry land. (Appendix 7) All the farmers who have lands within two kilometer from the factory reported paucity of ground waters. The duration of working of pumps have more than halved during the past two years. This has led to a decrease in production of food crops such as paddy, coconut, vegetables and groundnuts. This had a spiraling effect on other sectors of economy as well, leading to a net loss of livelihood to several people.
Krishnaswami (42), a farmer of Kampalathara colony narrates the history of the farming activities of the area and the present day situation:
"I have eight acres of agricultural land. Around 30 workers used to work in this land every day. Till the year 2000 my yield was sufficiently good. On a regular basis, I used to sell vegetables in the markets of Meenakshipuram, Koduvayur, Palakkad, and Trissur. Today I don’t cultivate anything in the land. I used to cultivate paddy for two seasons per year. The production from one acre in one season would be around 24000kilogram. Today I stopped cultivating paddy and vegetables due to acute water shortage. Earlier I was able to pump sufficient water for 20 hours using a 5Hp motor from my well which is only about 24ft deep. It was from this well I used to give water to the farm of Ligamuthu Gounder, which is about two and a half Kilometers away.The coconut production was also at its peak. Normally I got 6000 coconuts from an area of seven acres. But today I don’t even get 1500 coconuts. My monthly income was about Rs.2000/- per month till the year 2000. Today my elder brother has to work as a lorry driver for our livelihood.
I definitely believe that all these problems erupted since the company started its functioning here. I strongly support the view that coca-cola must quit Plachimada at the earliest because our lives are in ditches after they came here."
The survey results show that there is sharp decrease in the production since the Company started its functioning. The paddy production has almost come to a stand still whereas the production of coconut and vegetables decreased below half times.
( Appendix 8 )
The irrigation system, which was comfortably managed by the farmers, was also damaged beyond repair due to the depletion of groundwater in the area. (Appendix 9 )The farmers complained that the organic components in the soil were heavily destroyed due to the depletion of water and the use of the sludge, which adversely affected the yield of the land.
Health Status
Majority of the people living in the nearby villages are adivasis or dalits. They mainly depend on the government hospital. The Primary Health Centre (PHC) is three kilometers from Plachimada. Diseases and symptoms, which the people attribute to the environmental pollution by the cola factory, are given in table. Diseases with high relative risks in the adjacent villages are hair-loss, burning of eyes, cough, vomiting, pain in limbs etc. Hair loss is 13 times higher in the adjacent village. Burning in eye similarly, 7 times higher in the adjacent village. ( Appendix 10 )
MEDICAL CAMP
In the context of these health problems detected during the survey, a medical camp was organized by a medical team comprising Dr.M.N.Anuvarudheen, Dr.K.Muralidharan and DR.T.P.Jayaraman on the 2nd of November 2003. This was the first of its kind after the installation of the plant at Plachimada. Only those who are enlisted in the survey with complaints of certain health problems were subjected to medical examination. 212 patients attended the camp and were examined by the team of doctors. The age group ranged from 4 months to 75 years and after the medical camp they were divided in to three age group categories.
4 months to 16 years
20-49 years
50-75 years
The most prominent symptom seen in all the age groups was anaemia. That too, more than 50% in the pediatric group. Marked numbers with anaemia were seen in other age groups as well. In the 2nd and 3rd categories the next important complaints were joint pain and general weakness. Stomach pain was also seen in appreciable numbers. About 15 persons complained of abnormal fall of hair. The major complaint seen in all age group, especially paediatric age group, is anaemia and this could have been written off as seen in any backward area due to malnutrition and poverty. But at Plachimada, where the Coka- Cola factory extensively distributed solid waste as manure which contained toxic substances like lead and cadmium, one cannot simply attribute the problem of anaemia to the above-mentioned reasons alone. It is very evident that these toxic materials found in the solid waste have entered in to the ecosystem and as a result to the human body system. That means this must have exerted some effect on the health problems, which are very rampant in the area. Abnormal hair falling and itching over the body can be seen as an effect of the use of bad quality water. The medical team, therefore, seriously recommended further indepth and authentic investigation by the authorities on the health problems created by the toxic substances like lead and cadmium.
Health hazards of lead and cadmium
On chronic ingestition of lead can cause chronic lead poisoning with features:
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