The legislature of the South Indian state of Kerala, has passed the Plachimada Coca Cola Victims Relief and Compensation Claims Special Tribunal Bill, 2011 to establish a special tribunal to deal with claims arising out of ground water depletion and other environmental degradation caused by the Coca Cola bottling plant in Plachimada, Perumatty Panchayat, Palakkad District, Kerala. This is probably the first of its kind, special claims tribunal for environmental problems in India.
The background:
Plachimada is a village in Perumatty Panchayat, Palakkad District of Kerala. It was an agrarian village that seldom attracted the attention of the media or the outside world. M/s Hindustan Coca-Cola beverages Private Ltd. applied for consent of the Board in June 1999 to establish a factory on a 31 acre plot at Plachimada in Palakkad district for manufacturing 5,61,000 litres of soft drinks (Coca Cola, Limca, Fanta, Thums Up, Sprite, Kinley soda and Maaza) per day. The raw materials include 15,00,000 litres of water, soft drink concentrate, carbon dioxide, sugar, mango pulp, preservatives, water treatment chemicals, etc. The factory was discharging more than 8,00,000 litres of water per day and provided the sludge to the villagers to use as fertilizers.
