Kerala Assembly panel asks Coca-Cola to pay damages

A day after an Assembly panel suggested curbs on the Pepsi plant in Kerala, another House committee today asked the government to ensure compensation from Coca-Cola to the people at Plachimada in Palakkad district for the losses they suffered from the beverage major’s plant in the area.

The Petitions Committee of the Kerala Assembly, which looked into environmental pollution and water shortage allegedly caused by the plant, wanted the government to take steps to get compensation from Coca-Cola for the losses suffered by villagers, majority of whom are tribals and other weaker sections.

Addressing the media after tabling the report, Committee Chairman V Surendran Pillai said the report had suggested conducting of an experts’ study to ascertain problems caused by the plant to the health of the people and farming.

A state assembly committee on irrigation and power had in its report on Wednesday asked the state government to restrict use of water by a Pepsi plant in Palakkad district at 340,000 litres a day.

The assembly panel report on Coca-Cola plant has come at a time when a high-level committee, set up by the state government to assess the “socio-economic” damage caused by the plant, is expected to submit its report tomorrow.