The Hindu : Cola plant declines to implement Cabinet order

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Feb 26, 2004

Kerala

Kerala

Cola plant declines to implement Cabinet order

By Our Staff Reporter

PALAKKAD, FEB. 25. The Coca-Cola plant at Plachimada in Kerala's Palakkad district has declined to comply with the State Cabinet's order banning it from drawing groundwater from the area till June 15.

Company sources said the bottling unit functioned normally today. The company, on an average, uses 3 lakh to 5 lakh litres of water every day for producing various brands of soft drinks.

The Cabinet's order was served on the company by the District Collector, Sanjeev Kaushik, on Monday night. The company, in its reply today, said that since the matter was sub judice and the High Court had ordered status quo on the matter, it could not comply with the order.

The company authorities said the Government order amounted to contempt of court. The matter is coming up for hearing in the High Court on Thursday.

The Collector said the company's reply had been sent to the Government for further orders.

Perumatty grama panchayat (which falls in Chittur taluk) had cancelled the licence of the company on April 7, 2003 on the plea that the company was `overexploiting' the groundwater in the area and the local people were facing acute water shortage because of this. This was challenged by the company in the High Court.

The court had appointed an expert committee to study the impact of the `overexploitation' of groundwater by the Cola unit. It is learnt that the committee has submitted its preliminary report to the court.

The Government has already declared Palakkad as drought-affected following acute water shortage in several parts of the district including Chittur taluk. Moreover, 7.25 tmc of water due to the Chitturpuzha scheme from Tamil Nadu under the Parambikulam-Aliyar Project (PAP) agreement is yet to flow in. Besides, there is a 30 per cent reduction in rainfall in the area.

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