Kerala House panel wants Pepsi plant to reduce water use

The Left Government in Kerala seems to be bracing for another war on softdrink giants Pepsico and Coca-Cola. An Assembly panel,constituted to look into the ground water exploitation by the Pepsico bottling plant at Pudussery in Palakkad on Wednesday submitted the report in the House,suggesting that drawing of water should be cut drastically from seven lakh litres a day to 2.34 lakh litres.

The panel,headed by state Water Resources Minister N K Premachandran,said it could not make a drastic recommendation for closure of the unit,considering the fact that it employs 3,500 persons. The panel,however,did not look into the pollution caused by the bottling plant at Pudussery,where the level of ground water has gone down alarmingly. This region is one of the water blocs,where the government has imposed strict restrictions on exploiting ground water. The committee has also noted that industrial units which depend on ground water as the main raw material should be discouraged.

Incidentally,the two plants were started during the LDF’s last stint in power in the state.

In a related development,another government panel,which looked into the socio-economic damage caused by Coca-Cola’s plant at Perumatty panchayat in Palakkad,has suggested that the multi-national company be made to pay a compensation of Rs 200 crore. The panel,headed by additional chief secretary K Jayakumar,would submit the report to the Water Resources Department next Monday.