Resentment is brewing among hundreds of victims of groundwater exploitation and pollution at Plachimada over the statement of Law Minister A.K. Balan that there would be no reintroduction of the Plachimada Coca-Cola Victims’ Relief and Compensation Tribunal Bill, 2011, in the State Assembly. The much anticipated reintroduction of the Bill, which was returned without Presidential assent by the Union Home Ministry last year, after making necessary changes was one of the key electoral promises of the Left Democratic Front (LDF).
It was on Saturday that the Minister claimed that the reintroduction of a bill returned by both the President and the Union Home Ministry would make the State government a laughing stock. The statement came on the 28th day of the indefinite strike launched by Plachimada victims before the Palakkad Collectorate, demanding the reintroduction of the Bill using the rights vested with the State government. In response to the Minister’s statement, Plachimada Agitation Solidarity Committee has decided to organise a protest march to his residence in Palakkad on May 28. The committee has also threatened that it will organise protest marches to the houses of all LDF MLAs in the district.
‘Defusing of bill’
When asked about the protest marches, Mr. Balan said it would be more appropriate if the agitators extended the march to the residences of former Chief Minister Oommen Chandy and former Union Home Minister P. Chidambaram, who allegedly tried their best to defuse the bill.
The Union Home Ministry had returned the Bill last year after sitting on it ever since it was passed in 2011. When it was introduced, the Bill had been passed unanimously by the State Assembly.
“The previous UDF government had done nothing to save the village from the issues created by Coca-Cola. The Centre had also acted unconstitutionally in the case. Now, the LDF is also turning against us. We strongly believe that the cola giant had influenced the governments for not implementing its provisions,” said agitation committee leader Arumughan Pathichira.
The Bill, the outcome of a protracted people’s struggle, saw the Coca-Cola unit being closed down in 2005.
