Now, Mohasa village panchayat turns against cola plant

BHOPAL: After yoga guru Ramdev, now the gram panchayat of

Mohasa village

has opposed the setting up of

Coca Cola

plant in the village.

The gram panchayat passed a resolution on February 19 to “boycott cola plant”.

Talking to TOI, the panchayat secretary Nawal Kishore Yadav said, “The issue was brought before the panchayat and a resolution was passed to boycott the company plant.”

The cola giant is setting up its Rs 750 crore plant at a newly developed Mohasa industrial estate in Babai tehsil of Hoshangabad district, about 80 kms away from Bhopal. Bhoomi pujan of the plant was held last month and the first phase of the construction is likely to be over by the year end.

Signed by Radhika Yadav, sarpanch of the panchayat, and the panchayat secretary Nawal Kishore, the resolution said setting up of the cola plant will “cause water scarcity” in the village.

“Villagers will have to face water crisis. This will also cause pollution and diseases,” the resolution said. It said water drawn for the plant would lead to a decline in the water level of rivers like Narmada and Tawa and the tube wells of the village would go dry.

Besides, Radhika, Rajkumar Yadav, deputy sarpanch, Ravishankar Yadav, Sushila, Madari, Shainaldra, Malti, Bhagwan Singh, Mathuraprasad and Savitri were the panchas presented when the gram sabha passed the resolution.

Two days ago, Baba Ramdev, a staunch supporter of swadeshi, has opposed the setting up of the plant. While addressing a press conference in Bhopal on February 20, he said “it’s good if cola company is kept away from Narmada.”

The state government had allocated 110 acres of land to the company at Mohasa industrial estate, about 8 kms away from Narmada river in Babai.

The government is also setting up 5 MGD (million gallon per day) water treatment plant (WTP) for uninterrupted water supply to the company.

John Murhpy, president of the Asia Pacific group of the Coca-Cola Company, T Krishnakumar, chief executive officer of Hindustan Coca-Cola Beverages, Irial Finan, executive vice-president and president, bottling investments group, of the company attended the bhoomi pujan function on January 11 when the chief minister Shivraj Singh was conspicuously missing. Industry minister Rajendra Shukla attended the function.

Social activists in Hoshangabad have already launched a campaign against the company. Vikrant Rai, an activist said that soon the social workers in Hoshangabad would start a signature campaign to create awareness.


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