Kochi: The Kerala government will form an expert panel to study demands for compensation by residents of 
Plachimada village in Palakkad district for the damage done by pollution allegedly caused by a Coca-Cola Co. plant, the state’s minister for water resources N.K. Premachandran said.
The Kerala Ground Water Authority (KGWA) [...] said it found sufficient grounds in the claim of the residents that the plant was depleting groundwater, polluting water bodies, and mishandling toxic waste. KGWA recommended the formation of an expert committee as the issues went beyond groundwater extraction.
[...]
The Kerala State Pollution Control Board had in March 2004 ordered the company to shut down its bottling unit at Plachimada following protests by locals.
Read more: Ajayan, Livemint.com, 16 Oct 2008
The Hindustan Coca-Cola Beverages Limited has in a statement said that the allegations of excessive usage of groundwater by the company is baseless. This has been substantiated by studies conducted by all expert bodies, it added.
[...]
Most of the studies by the expert bodies are in public domain and have also been considered by the Kerala High Court in arriving at its conclusion that there is ‘’no evidence to attribute water scarcity in the area to the operations of the Coca-Cola plant”.
The company stated that it had cooperated with all scientific studies in the past and are open for further studies by experts.
Read more: Expressbuzz.com, 16 Oct 2008
Pingback: Reducing water resources demand management policies and strategies | WASH Help desk