1000 Days and A Dream

A film on the four and a half years old anti-coca cola struggle in Plachimada

India/2006/DV/60 Mins Direction: P Baburaj & C Saratchandran

If `Bitter Drink’ announced the struggle to preserve ground water, `1000 Days and A Dream’ picks the social conscience. Protestors go on record to castigate political parties, media and society at large -THE HINDU November 03 2006 I feel like I knew Mayilamma. Ever since I saw `1000 Days and A Dream’, a film in which she is one of the main protagonists. - A tribute to Mayilamma in How the Other Half Lives

The Plachimada struggle is more than four years old. Perhaps, no other agitation in recent times in Kerala has attracted national and global attention all this one has. What initially began as a struggle for survival of a few thousand tribal villagers in central Kerala, has grown into a people’s movement against the most powerful corporate giant in the world, the Coca Cola. An agitation against Coca Cola the flag bearers of American nationalism has become a movement against U S imperialism and the policies pushed by the State and Central Governments in India.

The film captures the spirit of the anti coca cola struggle, trace the history of the struggle and discuss the several issues raised by the struggle. It also documents the poignant moments of the struggle and share the dreams and sorrows of some of the active participants of the struggle.

Press Coverage

• Thousand days of struggle The Hindu, 3rd Nov 2006
• Film Festival of Water Begins with 1000 days & a Dream
  Deccan Herarld 8th June 2007

Background

Plachimada is a sleepy village in Palakkad district in central Kerala. Paddy and sugarcane fields dot the landscape and the villagers are either farmers or farm labourers. The people in Plachimada were excited when the news came that Hindustan Coca Cola Beverages Pvt. Ltd is going to establish a bottling unit in their village. They believed the presence of the global soft drinks company will make their village famous. Well, Plachimada has become famous but for different reasons.

The company started operations in 2000 March and within an year the water in the wells nearby become unfit for drinking and cooking. Even before the struggle began, a study report done by Dr Sathish Chandran Nair for INTACH had concluded that the prtially treated effluent water could be the reason for the degeneration of the quality of the drinking water in the neighbouring wells. Water samples taken from the wells by Mr Nityanand Jayaraman and C R Bijoy were analysed in Sargam Labs. The lab report was that the water is polluted to such an extent that it is unfit for drinking, bathing washing and for irrigation. It is interesting to note that all independent studies have indicated the Company for polluting the water sources in Plachimada and all Govt. studies have exonerated it.

On June 5, 2003 CEC (Centre for Science and Environment, New Delhi) in a press conference reported high levels of pesticide content in Cola products in India. The struggle attracted national and international attention when B.B.C Radio - 4 reported on 25th july 2003 that the solid effluents from the factory contained toxic elements like Cadmium much above permissible levels. In July 2003 the State Pollution Control Board wrote a letter to the Company saying that the Company’s solid effluents contained very high levels of Cadmium (201.8 mg/kg). But it took the Board only a month to change its opinion and say that everything is within ‘permissible’ limits!! But the Central pollution Control Board in its note to the Joint Parliamentry Committee on Feb 4th 2004, observed that the Company’s solid effluents contained Cadmium to the level of 338.8mg/kg. The number game still continues. The popular base of the struggle became widened. In January a World Water Conference was held in Plachimada. Opposition leader V S Achudanandan declared support.

Embolded by the popular response to the struggle, Perumatty Panchayat refused to renew the license to the factory. The company went to Court and has recently obtained a verdict in its favor. The struggle is at the crossroads now. In May 2005 a Division Bench of the Kerala High Court ordered the Perumatty Panchayat to issue the license with in 10days to the Company and if not asked the Company to start functioning as soon as possible. The High Court judgment has come in for criticism from eminent jurists like Justice V R Krishna Iyer. The Panchayat renewed the license for three months after the Governing Council put forward 13 conditions which should be satisfied by the Company within the three months time.