Coke provides housing to Tsunami-affected in TN

SOCIAL ENTERPRISE

   These measures come amidst poor public opinion of the company in the area after the prolonged battle that the panchayat in Plachimada in Kerala fought with it over contamination of ground water by factory effluents.

The beneficiaries of Coke's generosity are those who were left out of the list of tsunami survivors prepared by the local administration. The company, with the help of Red Cross, used the list to identify people who were excluded from it. The project was executed in a public private partnership with the district administration.

Beneficiaries said the Church and the Red Cross helped the district administration include them on the list after it was found that they did not figure on the earlier list.

A Coca-Cola executive said: "We, along with the Red Cross, have handed over 41 houses in Colachel . This is part of the rehabilitation programme initiated across Tamil Nadu."

Five more houses are coming up at Simon Colony, a worst-hit locality. Colachel is less than two hours drive away from Kerala's capital Thiruvananthapuram, en route to Kanyakumari.

While Coke spent Rs 1 crore on these houses, the administration spent Rs 10 lakh. Jothi Nirmala, district collector, Kanyakumari, said: "The Coca-Cola, Red Cross housing project has made a huge difference."

The project follows the construction and dedication of a dockyard in Cuddalore, which helps the local fishermen to not only dock their boats safely but also eases the problems of transportation, preservation and disposal of the catch. The boat dockyard addresses the needs of nearly 3,000 fishing families that live in the area, the company said.

Another major disaster relief project in Tamil Nadu by Coke is the Velankanni ‘Vidaylai Noki' livelihood initiative. Coke has joined a growing list of companies pitching in to provide relief to the tsunami-hit in the coastal South.

Nasscom had earlier implemented projects with partners such as Hewlett-Packard, while Tata Consultancy Services and Wipro and many others have done their bit for tsunami housing.