My seventh book, The Saga of Plachimada, written in English and published by
M/s. VAK, Mumbai, is being released at 1 p.m. on 14 Feb 2008, at the venue of
the VIBGYOR film festival at Thrissur, Kerala, India. The content list of the
book and preface is given below for your information.
Sincerely,
Dr. P. R. Sreemahadevan Pillai, Principal,
P.E.T. Engineering College, Tiruchendur Road,
Vallioor – 627117, Tirunelveli District, Tamil Nadu, India.
Phone: 91-4637-220999 (8 lines), 222343 (Direct), Fax: 222205,
Res: 91-471-2221153, Mobile: 91-9447056075.
E-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED], Web:
www.petengg.ac.in
THE SAGA OF PLACHIMADA
CONTENT
1. Introduction
2. What is in the Cola?
3. Plachimada – the story
4. Plachimada – the land
5. Plachimada – the people
6. Plachimada and water
7. Plachimada and health
8. Plachimada and the Government
9. Plachimada – the symbol
10. Plachimada – the implications
PREFACE
Environmental regulation has experienced tremendous growth in the last quarter
of the century resulting in a heavily centralized command-and-control
bureaucracy overseeing all aspects of environmental protection including
enforcement. Still there are many regions severely polluted by the functioning
of industries and stressed by resource crunch, including scarcity of drinking
water, which has made the lives of the people there difficult in many aspects.
Water is a prime natural resource very essential for life. The amount of
potable surface water available is only 0.38% of the total amount of water
available on the whole of earth. Kerala State in India is rich in such
resources with 44 rivers. Palakkad (Palghat) district of the Kerala State has
the highest percent of irrigated land in the State and also has a good
potential of water resources. The water available at Plachimada in Palakkad
district was suitable for domestic and industrial purposes. It was
in the year 2000 that the Coca Cola bottling plant was set up in Plachimada,
after which there was a considerable depletion in the ground water and also
degradation in the quality of the available water, making it unsuitable for
domestic purposes.
When the people at Plachimada resisted the overexploitation of ground water by
the multinational corporation, the Coca Cola, it took a new dimension of fight
for existence. Environmentalists and human rights activists rallied behind the
adivasis of Plachimada in their historic resistance against the scrupulous
exploitation of the natural resource with profit motive. Plachimada became a
global symbol of a new movement. Though the struggle was begun by the resident
adivasis of Plachimada, the involvement of the environmentalists and Government
agencies gave some academic input to the whole issue. A lot of investigations
were made by institutions and individuals on the depletion and pollution of
ground water at Plachimada, the accumulation of toxic elements in water and
plants, the health hazards in the locality etc. The author and his team have
conducted two such studies from 2004 to 2006. The first study was sponsored by
the Science, Technology and
Environment Department of the Government of Kerala and the second one was
sponsored by the Vikas Adhyayan Kendra, Mumbai (erstwhile Bombay). The results
of both these studies as also relevant results of the studies conducted by
others are included in this book.
The socio-economic impacts of Coca Cola at Plachimada is also a matter of
concern. Analysis in this line is worth comprehending. Being associated with
the struggle from its beginning, the author had chances to address the mass
gathering of protestors at Plachimada on some occasions. Plachimada has now
become a catch word and hence a comprehensive document on this historical
struggle is a sine qua non. Information and photographs provided by many
well-wishers and voluntary organizations by e-mail have been utilized in this
book. Since the original author or photographer is not known in most of the
cases, they could not be properly acknowledged. This may kindly be excused, for
a noble cause. The medical information provided by Mr. V. T. Padmanabhan and
socio-economic data provided by Mr. Oamjie John are utilized extensively and
are gratefully acknowledged. This book came out because of the constant
persuasion and inspiration of Mr. Ajit Murikkan and Mr.
Mustafa Desamangalam. This book is dedicated to the more than a billion people
of the world, deprived of safe drinking water.
P. R. Sreemahadevan Pillai
____________________________________________________________________________________
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