Thiruvananthapuram: A committee set up by the Kerala government on Monday suggested that the state take legal steps to collect Rs 216.26 crore from Coca Cola as compensation for the "multi-sectoral" loss allegedly caused by the company’s plant at Plachimada in Palakkad district.
The 14-member committee, which was set up in April 2009 and is led by Additional Chief Secretary K Jayakumar, recommended that a tribunal be set up to help people affected by the plant as they wouldn’t be able to fight the company in the courts individually.
The panel’s report alleged that the Hindustan Coca Cola Beverages Ltd plant exceeded the limit to withdraw groundwater and harmed the farming and environment in the area by dumping solid waste.
It quantified the damage suffered by various sectors due to the plant from 1999 to 2004 as agricultural loss (Rs 84. 16 crore), pollution of water resources (Rs 62 crore), cost of providing water (Rs 20 crore), health damage (Rs 30 crore), wage loss and opportunity cost (Rs 20 crore).
State Water Resources Minister N K Premachandran said the report would be placed before the state cabinet.
Jayakumar said the "dedicated" legal mechanism to fight for compensation could be created by the state government itself either by setting up a tribunal or asking the Centre to create such a mechanism under the Environment Act.
"Once the government decides on a suitable mechanism and it comes into being, individual claims will have to be assessed and actual compensation decreed and the polluter company made to pay it," the report said.
It reported the precedent of Tamil Nadu setting up a tribunal to address the pollution caused by tanneries.
Jayakumar alleged that Coca Cola declined to co-operate with the study by writing that the government had no power to do such an exercise. "We just ignored the contention of the company and went ahead with our task," he said.
The report said the company was culpable under several laws. By passing sludge as manure, the company had not only misguided farmers, but has become responsible for soil degradation, water contamination and consequential loss of agriculture.
Besides a steady decline in agriculture in the area dominated by weaker sections and tribals, production of milk, meat and eggs had also suffered, it said.
The general health of the people had been affected with skin ailments, breathing problems and other debilities.
The report said drinking water had become scarce through over extraction by the plant and women had to go long distances to fetch water. A total of 900 households had been directly affected by the problems caused by the company.
Children had to leave schools on account of the social, health and economic factors caused by the pollution and this "opportunity cost" should be realised, it said.
Daily extraction of over five lakh litres of water by the plant had upset the natural balance and adversely affected availability of water. Toxic chemicals in the wastewater contaminated groundwater and made it unsuitable for irrigation, the report said.
The plant, now dysfunctional, had been the focus of a struggle with local people, environmentalists and anti-MNC activists agitating for its closure.
At one point the Left Democratic Front Government in the state had even imposed a ban on sale of Cola brands of various companies, which was later quashed by the Kerala High Court.
The committee comprised legal experts, including a retired district judge, agricultural scientists, environmentalists and health and ground water experts.
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Coca Cola's response
Coca Cola rejected the report, saying the panel was set up based on the "unproven assumption" that the company had caused damage in the area.
"It is our view that any government committee or panel reviewing claims should first determine through a process of law whether any damage was caused to residents of Palakkad, and if such damage was caused, who was responsible," it said in a statement.
"It is unfortunate that the committee in Kerala was appointed on the unproven assumption that damage was caused and that it was caused by Hindustan Coca-Cola Beverages," it said.
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