Community water shortage concerns confirmed
January 18, 2008
BOSTON, MA – A report released on January 14, 2008 confirmed what communities across India have been saying for years – groundwater levels are dangerously low in areas near some Coke plants.
"The report was an attempt to hide certain facts and ‘whitewash’ the [corporation’s] operations," said R. Ajayan of the Plachimada Solidarity Council. "But the Coca-Cola corporation’s attempt to regain its lost credibility has once again failed."
Though Coke commissioned The Energy and Resource Institute (TERI) to conduct the 500-page study, the findings raise serious questions about Coke’s water use in India.
Of the six plants surveyed, three plants are located in areas where the stress on groundwater is increasing.
"…in Mehdiganj, the water tables have been depleting and the aquifer may move from a safe to semi-critical situation," the report found. “[I]n Nabipur, the state of the aquifer has already moved from critical to overexploited conditions.”
These findings stand in direct contradiction to earlier claims by Coke officials that water levels in the Mehdiganj area had actually risen since their plant began operations. Such findings also echo community concerns -- concerns that Coke has previously dismissed.
"[T]he basic focus of the Coca-Cola Company water resource management practices is on the business community – community water issues do not appear to form an integral part of the water resource management practices of the Coca-Cola Company," the report found.
What’s more, the report questions Coke’s wisdom in siting its Kaladera plant in an area where groundwater is ‘overexploited,’ saying the most practical option would be to close the plant.
Still, Coke is resistant. This week Atul Singh, the chief executive of Coke’s India division, is defending Kaladera, offering a strangely illogical explanation for keeping the plant running.
"The easiest thing would be to shut down, but the solution is not to run away," Singh told the International Herald Tribune.
The report surveyed only six of Coke’s 60 facilities in India. The findings indicate that Coke’s bottling practices may have much greater implications for India’s water resources as a whole.
"Reporters and officials need to be asking some very tough questions of this corporation,” said Patti Lynn, campaigns director for Corporate Accountability International. “We all need to be asking whether we should be allowing corporations to control community water resources, especially if this is the result."
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Corporate Accountability International, formerly Infact, is a membership organization that protects people by waging and winning campaigns challenging irresponsible and dangerous corporate actions around the world. For over 25 years, we've forced corporations -- like Nestlé, General Electric and Philip Morris/Altria -- to stop abusive actions. For more information visit www.stopcorporateabuse.org
