The "REAL thing": Cola and Water Commoditization

Mon, 10/06/2008 - 07:04 — Katherine Bryant

It is rather hard to believe that the business and consumer decisions regarding water usage in my hometown of Atlanta have implications as far as South India. Further, as a native to the city that is often defined by the international marvel that it produced, Coca-Cola, we Atlantans take great pride in our contribution to the world market. In fact, a simple coke has taken shape as an emblem of unity and hope in an increasingly more connected world, a world where one could travel the globe and enjoy the familiarity and refreshment of a coke in any language. Unfortunately, the globalization that facilitates this very ‘connectedness’ further alienates the margins and causes degradation of sustainable environments and livelihoods.

Less known is the fact multi-national corporations such as Coca-Cola produce impacts that are not equally refreshing to those affected. What is the principal use of water—survival or profit? The commoditization of water, a natural resource and arguably a natural right, is a global crisis and an undesirable by-product of globalization. Who has the right to governance over water? Is it the people who rely on it for their very livelihood or the corporations that can afford to take it, literally, from under their feet? Who decides the priorities of water use? Those that can afford it. A legal battle has raged since 2001 among the constituents of Plachimada in Kerala, India and the Coca-Cola Company. In December 2004, a single bench of the High Court of Kerala ordered the company to find and alternate source of water for its high production use yet, the struggle continues. Plachimada is the name given to the seven most effected colonies in the region where Coca-Cola has its bottling plant. The thousands of people in this arena are compromised of a majority of Dalits (“untouchable caste”) and Advarsis (tribals) and depend on sustenance agriculture for their basic needs. Shortly after the arrival of the bottling plant, community members began to feel the effects of the receding water table indicated by more frequent water shortages and changes in water quality. The company maintains six bore wells and two open-wells that drain 0.8-1.5 million litres of groundwater daily. To matters worse, in a show of ‘goodwill’ Coke sold the foul smelling slurry and sludge waste from the plant as fertilizer to the local farmers.

Certainly, the phenomenal aspect of the struggle is that the key players standing up to the giant corporation do not include the state government or influential advocates, but rather the lowest and poorest of the community. This is a case where democracy falls short in ensuring basic rights to humanity and just governance over natural resources.

The Great Lakes Basin is not left unaffected by the giant bottling industries. The bottled water industry, dominated by Coke, Pepsico and Nestle draw water from the basin to support a growing market under a wide variety of labels. In many cases, these multinational corporations purchase water from city water supplies. What’s more is that the accountability to these municipalities and communities for groundwater and above ground source usage is dubious.

We are facing a devastating example of the commodity that water has become.

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