---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: "Dr. P. R. Sreemahadevan Pillai" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
My seventh book, The Saga of Plachimada, written in English and
published by 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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