Panchayats, or village councils, are elected bodies at the
most local level in India. Eighteen in the immediate vicinity of the
Coca-Cola bottling plant in Mehdiganj in Varanasi district have come together
to demand that the groundwater used by Coca-Cola be stopped immediately due to
the growing water crisis in the area. They are located within a 5-km radius of
the Coca-Cola plant and villagers have experienced water shortages soon after
Coca-Cola began operations in 1999. The area surrounding the bottling plant is
largely agrarian, and relies on groundwater to meet most of its needs,
including drinking, irrigation, cleaning and for livestock. Coca-Cola also uses
the same common groundwater source to meet its production needs, placing its
groundwater use in direct competition with the community in an area running
short of water.
Government data has confirmed sharp drops in groundwater
level in the area. The area’s groundwater was declared as “over-exploited” by
the government just last year. Over-exploited is the worst category possible
and implies that more water is being extracted than being recharged, and many
restrictions on the use of groundwater by the community and farmers are put
into place. The village councils note that it is not acceptable that Coca-Cola
continues to extract groundwater for profit while everyone faces a water crisis
in the area. The letter also notes that children, women, farmers, the poor and
livestock are affected the most from the growing water crisis.
“Elected village council heads represent the voice of the
people, and they are clear that Coca-Cola is not welcome in Mehdiganj. It is
time for Coca-Cola to pack up and leave,” said Amit Srivastava of the India
Resource Center, an international campaigning organization. “Coca-Cola paints a
pretty picture of itself internationally as a responsible user of water but the
reality in India is that it exploits groundwater at the expense of the poor,
the women, children, farmers and livestock who have to live with less water
because Coca-Cola mines groundwater in a water scarce area for profit,”
Srivastava said.
World Socialism Party
(India)
Email: wspindia@hotmail.com
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