Villagers not bottling up unhappiness with Coca-Cola plant near Varanasi
Movement against alleged overexploitation of groundwater enjoys popular support
VARANASI: The fizz hasn’t gone out of her dislike for the Coca-Cola plant at Mehadiganj in Varanasi district.
“I want this Coca-Cola plant to go because it is responsible for the depleted water table in the area,” says Prabha Devi, a veteran of a protest against the plant about 11 years ago.
The woman is resident of Nagepur village where she supports those who are carrying forward the campaign against the plant. Nagepur is among the 18 villages whose pradhans have signed a letter and sent it to the state and central authorities on the issue of alleged overexploitation of groundwater by the plant.
“Overexploitation of the ground water by the plant has resulted in a drastic depletion in the water level. Consequently, several hand pumps are releasing sandy water. Several wells in my village are on the verge of drying up,” says Prabha.
She, along with her neighbour Kamala, actively participated in the protest against the plant. They were allegedly beaten up by police. Her husband Shivlal had to go to jail for 15 days after participating in the protest in November 2004. A Lok Samiti (people’s committee), formed in 1999, was behind the protests.
Like Prabha Devi, Kamla is angry with the plant. “We don’t want the Coca-Cola plant in the vicinity of our village because it is the cause of dipping groundwater level. Hand pumps used to function properly and wells had sufficient water here earlier. But three years after (the plant came up), the water level in the wells decreased and hand pumps stopped functioning. Several people had to reinstall their hand pumps,” she said.
Kamla thanked a group of young people — Nandlal Master, Mahendra, Suresh Rathore, Mukesh among others — who re-energised the protest against the plant.
Initially, Nandlal Master claims, the drive did not get a proper response from the locals but their attitude changed later.
“Rural youths and women joined our movement against the plant in May 2003 after realising the adverse impact of overexploitation of groundwater,” he adds.
In November 2004, many locals joined a march from Ballia to Mehadiganj in protest against the plant.
As the march (padyatra) led by social activist Sandeep Pandey reached Mehadiganj, the protesters were lathi-charged. “A total of 167 persons, including 92 women, were arrested. While 163 of them were released four days after the detentions, the rest had to spend around a fortnight in jail before they got bail,” he adds.
The locals, however, continued their protest. Another activist Mahendra says that he, along with a group of youths, also staged a demonstration in September 2005 for three days at Jantar Mantar, New Delhi.
He also participated in a daylong sit-in before the Coca Cola office in Gurgaon.
“We hold protests every year in September. Several social activists like Vandana Shiva, Medha Patekar and Sandeep Pandey have joined us many times.” He is also an active member of the Loksamiti.
The Central Ground Water Board declared Arajiline block, where the bottling plant in located, as “overexploited” a few years ago.
Meanwhile, Mukesh Kumar, pradhan of Nagepur, has said, “The letter (on the issue) has also been sent to the union ministry of water resources, the central groundwater board, the union ministry of environment and forest, rural development, Uttar Pradesh chief minister Akhilesh Yadav, Prime Minister Narendra Modi (who is also the Varanasi MP) and the Varanasi district magistrate (DM).”
Sadanand Patel, pradhan of Benipur, says, “Coca Cola is exploiting 50,000 cubic metres of groundwater every year. When the plant was set up, the water table was sound. According to central ground water board the ground water table is depleted in the region. We all experience it daily.”