Stir before Coke plant off

PALAKKAD/KERALA: Close on the heels of the Kerala Government's ban on the sale and manufacture of Coca Cola and Pepsi, a major anti-cola resistance group on Saturday called off their four-year-old struggle demanding closure of the Coca Cola plant at Plachimada in Palakkad district.

Announcing the decision at a press meet here, the Adivasi Samrakshna Sanghom leaders Velur Swaminathan and Mailamma said they were calling off the agitation as one of the major demands had been met with the LDF Government banning the two softdrink brands in the state.

Stating that they had carried on the struggle with "great hardship," the Sanghom leaders said they would approach the Government and the court seeking compensation for the losses suffered in the course of the agitation which had drawn national and international attention to Plachimada.

They said the demands made by them when the agitation was launched in 2004 were closure of the cola plant and compensation for "losses caused by the plant" in the area.

The first demand had been met with the Government banning production and sale of Coca Cola. Political and legal efforts would be launched to secure the second demand, they said.