Soft drink giant leaves Thane villagers thirsty

MUMBAI: Coca-Cola may be quenching the thirst of vast numbers of people, but villagers around its plant at Wada taluka in Thane district have been left with parched throats.
Villagers have accused Hindustan Coca Cola of grabbing water meant for them, though the company has denied the charge. The villagers say they are forced to trek long distances to search for water because the area’s water table has dropped as a result of the company’s wells.
However, Coke officials said the state irrigation department had allowed the company to tap water from the Vaitarna river. The company has laid a pipeline costing Rs 2 crore to transport water from the river to its plant.
The officials claimed that since the river has been practically dry for the last seven months, the company has been getting its supply of water through tankers from water sources five km away. They also claimed that although the company had dug a few borewells inside the plant, it was not using them. But the claim has been disputed by local activists.
Attributing the water scarcity to insufficient rains, Coke claimed that the authorities had also stopped releasing water from the upstream Modak Sagar dam into the river and this may have contributed to the lowering of the water table in the area. Coca-Cola’s critics say the state government has given several facilities to the company, including tax concessions, land acquired from farmers at throwaway prices and a cheap, plentiful supply of water.
The company reportedly pays about Rs 378 per 10,000 litres of water. Meanwhile, the pro-Communist All-India Democratic Women’s Association has also stepped up its opposition to the plant, which was set up in 1997. “We do not want the plant to be closed down, but only want proper access to water for the villagers. Besides, the company should be charged a commercial rate for the water,’’ said activist Raju Paranjape.
Another activist, Kiran Moghe, said, “The state government is giving a subsidy of several crores to the company while getting little revenue.’’ Bhaskar Gorane, a villager, said that he and others have not been paid any compensation even though the company’s pipeline passes through their land. He was kept in police custody for week for opposing the construction of the pipeline. With a capacity of 30 lakh litres per day, the plant is capital intensive.
Most villagers had parted with their land for small prices expecting secure jobs in the company. But these are still to materialise. The area does not have history of water scarcity. Check dam built at Gandhre village had ensured that the surrounding villages got regular water supply.
However, life changed when the company was given permission to draw 300,000 litres water per day from the same source. “Why can’t an MNC create its own water resources without interfering with the supply of poor people?’’ the question on every villager’s lip.
Company officials say they have embarked on a Rs 50-lakh rain water harvesting project, creating water bodies within the plant premises to capture rain water. While there will be two large percolation tanks with a capacity of 10,000 cubic metres each in which the rain water will be stored, another large reservoir will collect rain water from the plant’s roof.
Although they claimed to unaware of the villagers’ plight, Coke officials maintained that the company could not be held responsible for the situation. They said last year the company had supplied water to Khupri village using tankers when the village had faced an acute shortage. The company also reportedly drilled two borewells.