• Investment World
• eWorld
• Catalyst
• Mentor
• Life
• Canvas
• Praxis
• Urban Pulse
• Brand Quest

Stocks

• Quotes
• SE Diary
• Scoreboard
• Open-End Mutual Fund

Port Info

• Ships in Ports
  
  

Archives

• Yesterday
• Datewise
• Resources

Group Sites

• The Hindu
• Business Line
• The Sportstar
• Frontline
• The Hindu eBooks
• The Hindu Images

K.C. Gopakumar

Kochi , April 7

A DIVISION Bench of the Kerala High Court today held that the Hindustan Coca-Cola Beverages Private Ltd is entitled to draw 5 lakh litres of groundwater a day at its plant in Plachimada in Palakkad without any right for accumulation in case of non-use.

The Bench comprising Mr Justice M. Ramachandran and Mr Justice K.P. Balachandran also held that the Perumatty Grama Panchayat was not justified in rejecting the company's application for renewal of licence well before a successful assessment was made.

The court, while allowing the appeal filed by the company and disposing of a petition and other appeals, directed the Panchayat to consider the application of the company seeking renewal of licence for the coming year or any block years, if such application was filed within two weeks.

The panchayat was directed to grant the licence in two weeks if the company satisfied the other statutory conditions such as the licence under the Factories Act and the pollution certificates from the Kerala State Pollution Control Board.

The court observed that the drying of ordinary wells was not a phenomenon specific to Plachimada. As could be gathered from the expert committee appointed by the High Court, substantial shortage in rainfall was a contributory factor. By natural seepage during the rainy season, on its own, water travelled down to the lower level.

The expert committee headed by Mr E.J. James, Executive Director, and Centre for Water Resources Development and Management (CWRDM), Kozhikode, was appointed to investigate into the allegation of excessive drawing of groundwater by the company.

In its final report, the committee recommended that the company be allowed to draw 5 lakhs litres of water a day under the normal rainfall conditions.

The court further said that the very fact that the wells were drying up in summer at Plachimada, notwithstanding the stoppage of extraction of water by the company after March 2004, and keeping the plant idle had led to the assumption that the allegation of over-exploitation and consequent shortage of water were not true.

The court was of view that the restrictions could be imposed only to compel an owner of a well to ensure that he did not bring about a drought or any imbalance in the water level.

The court pointed out that the report of the committee indicated that although the pumping of ground water stopped during March 2004, the trend of water level falling in the observatory wells in the area continued. The suggestions and conditions that the company bring water from outside Plachimada to run its industrial unit was plainly unreasonable and the court could not approve of such a condition for curbing industrial activities.

As for the complaint of the Panchayat about pollution, the court said that the company had already written to the pollution control board that any possibility of water contamination had been plugged.

As regards the Panchayat's another complaint that the company's product contained poisonous substance, the court said that there was no record of any sample taken from the factory by the Joint Parliamentary Committee and the objection of the panchayat did not appear to be valid or even sustainable.

The panchayat had objected to the company' product on the basis of the Joint Parliamentary Committee's report.

Article E-Mail :: Comment :: Syndication :: Printer Friendly Page

Stories in this Section
Dr Reddy's launches drug for diabetic foot ulcers

Copyright © 2005, The Hindu Business Line. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu Business Line