Coca-Cola plant's closure demanded in Rajasthan
Monday, 12 July 2004, 19:30 IST
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JAIPUR: Protests against a Coca-Cola bottling plant in Rajasthan are getting louder, with NGOs and villagers blaming it for a sharp decline in groundwater levels. They want the plant, situated in Kaladera, 40 km from here in central India, to be shut down. Banwari Lal Sharma, national convenor of the Aazadi Bachao Aandolan (ABA) charged that the plant was drawing about 3,00,000-4,00,000 litres of underground water daily. “The electricity department’s records state that, previously, the water table of Kaladera was at 20-25 ft and water could be drawn by a motor of 3 hp. But now, the water table has gone down to 100-125 ft and it can now only be drawn with a motor of 10-12 hp.” Besides ABA, Jan Sangarsh Samiti and Kaladera Vikas Samiti are among some of the NGOs fighting for the plant’s closure. They are trying to make villagers aware of the environmental hazards posed by the Coca-Cola plant. Sharma said due to overdrawing of underground water by the Coca-Cola factory, farmers in nearby villages were suffering loses of Rs 20,000-25,000 per year. Previously, the per-hectare yield in the area was four tonnes and now it has been reduced to three tonnes. “We want the plant to go from here,” said Ladu Ram, a farmer. “It is affecting our crops,” he said angrily. “We are requesting the government to close the bottling plant or shift it to some other place,” he said. The desert state of Rajasthan gets an annual average rainfall of only 50 cm.
Source: IANS
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