[Assam] [WaterWatch] AN HONEST CONFESSION

[mc mahant]

Can I add a tiny bit to what Gunnar Jacks thought aloud;
Is there any sense at all- carrying bottled water. Could somebody quantify the advantage of so many Gulps/Hour of  "ALPINE" ,"Himalayan","Alaskan", "Pamir","Ganga"(Ugh!)  water-- versus nothing at all for 3 hours at a stretch -and then a cup of Tea  or even tap water( Where all the fancy-name Bottled waters begin their profit net)?
mm


To: WaterWatch at yahoogroups.com; rina_mukherji at yahoo.comFrom: gjacks at abo.fiDate: Sat, 24 May 2008 12:40:59 +0300Subject: Re: [WaterWatch] AN HONEST CONFESSION




Dear All,Regardless of whether Coc-Cola has been depleting groundwater or not, their product could be questioned. It is a dilute phoshopric acid with a very low pH and a lot of sugar in it. It is considered in Europe that soft drinks causes obesity in children. In addition is is a very simple product, almost any local brewary could imitate it. There is no whatsoever diiference in taste between Cocal.Cola and Pepsi-Cola on one side and Mecca-Cola produced in Tunisia and other countries in North Africa. So why should the consumers pay licence fees to USA for an unhealthy product?Best regards!Gunnar JacksKTHSE-100 44 StockholmSwedenCiterar rina mukherji <rina_mukherji at yahoo.com>:> The confession by S Rajesh ought to be appreciated, rather than > criticised. There are many environmental campaigns that are suspect, > and a little probing reveals vested interests at work.It is time we > recognised this.>> Where groundwater depletion is concerned, it will get depleted due > to being drawn out by populations. This is inevitable, especially > in a densely populated country like ours. That is why rainwater > harvesting and every step taken to conserve natural resources is > important. We need water, but when it is used, it has to be replaced > too. Ground water recharging is the best method that comes to mind.>> If Coca Cola is taking every step to build harvesters, and doing > everything to help local populations, there can be no justification > in condemning them. How many communities stand to gain minus > industrialization? Let's face the truth. And has anyone thought of > addresing the problem of overpopulation and illegal immigration from > across the border when talking of the pressure on resources?>> Regards,>> Rina Mukherji>> Kolkata>> CAPSA <capnet_southasia at spdindia.org> wrote:> This does raise the issue of "legitimising purchase of > ground water at the right price" as a fair /decent > practice?...specially if accompanyed by other sops ....>> - do we recognise "compensating" for ecological violations as > acceptable rationalisation?>> - Can Tatas/Birlas/Mittals/Ambanis be allowed to buy all the water > since they can afford to pay ...maybe even more than fair price ?>> This is a very dangerous argument and can justify any anti social > activity provided - "every bit is paid for"......narcotics > prodcution, human trafficking, hazardous occupations, pollution > generation......can the right to violate be purchased?>> -jasveen>>> ----- Original Message -----> From: mediavigil> To: WaterWatch at yahoogroups.com> Sent: Thursday, May 15, 2008 6:03 PM> Subject: [WaterWatch] AN HONEST CONFESSION>>> There is an interesting response to Dr Sudhirendar Sharma's article> published in the Economic Times (May 10, 2008) that was circulated on> Waterwatch list.> ---------------------------------->> The article is just a juicy article put up by an unscientific and> illogical person who cannot appreciate even good efforts if they come> from an MNC. For the MOTHER EARTH - depleting water table is painful> (be it due to industry or agriculture) and any Ground Water Re-Charge> effort is a relief (be it by the Industry or the farmer).>> The truth of our experience will rip your article apart !>> AN HONEST CONFESSION>> We at Chitresh & Associates were for once misled by the propaganda of> Amit Srivastava, Nandlal Master, Swai Singh & Sandeep Pandey to the> extent that we decided to spearhead the campaign against Coca-Cola> operations in India to safe guard the interests of the Farmers. But> like any sincere honest group we first decided to investigate, for our> own satisfaction - the extent of damage which Coca-cola operations> were making to the interest of the communities where the plants existed.>> Our first targeted location was the Kaladera Plant of Coca-Cola> situated about 60 km. from Jaipur. It was shocking to learn from the> villagers that every now and then agitations against the Coca-Cola> plant were organized in this area by groups coming from out side and> all such programmes failed because not even 5 people from the local> community ever supported such agitations. Why was the local community> not hostile if coke operations were damaging? Further probe led our> team into areas which were perfect examples of outstanding CSR activities.>> We were shown the huge Cement concrete roads, which were constructed> by Coke in the Village for the benefit of commuters. We were taken> around the Primary health Centre and Maternity hospital which were> rejuvenated by coke and provided with inverters for the benefit of the> indoor patients.15 Weekly mother and child care medical camps were> organized by Coke. Regular Eye camps were organized by the company. We> could see a large number of Hand Pumps put up by coca-cola all over> the village for the residents to draw water. We could see benches> provided by Coke for the locals to sit and relax. We saw fresh tree> plantation being protected by tree guards provided by coke. We saw> street lights in the village provided by Coca-Cola. We met farmers who> were provided with training in organic farming by Coke. We even saw a> big pilot project where farming was done by drip irrigation system and> this system was put up by Coke for the other farmers to see and replicate.>> Our team visited Saharia Higher Sec. School and met the Principal Mr.> Narendra Arya. During our talk we gathered the information that there> were about 15 schools in the area where Coke provides entire year's> fee to all students who stand first in each class from 1st to 12th. At> the end of the day we realized that probably Coca-Cola stands out> amongst the Best companies when it comes to CSR. May be the company> decides its operation location according to the business interest but> once it places itself in an area then it adopts the area and the> community in the most desired manner. Realizing that our aim was to> find faults since we were too convinced by what we had heard from Amit> Shrivastava etc. we thought that may be since the company draws water> hence all this CSR was just an eye wash. We immediately took up the> issue in depth.>> Our team visited the Rajasthan Ground water Department and met their> Hydrgeologist Shri P.N. Mishra and Avinash Bhargava. More was in store> for our team when we were informed that Coca-Cola plant in Kaladera> only has 4 borewells and each of these borewells were metered and cess> was being paid for every lit. drawn. Also that the water withdrawal> quantity by the plant was no secret. We were informed that such> massive was the magnitude of Rain water harvesting projects> implemented by the company in Kaladera area that already the company> has created a re-charge potential which will re-charge the ground> water by more then 10 times the quantity of water which coke withdraws.>> We again visited Kaladera and requested one Local person Ram Kishore> Mali to take us around . We saw more then 130 Rain Water Harvesting> Shafts. Each was above 100 ft. in depth and filled with filter media.> We saw Two Rain water collection Tankas. We saw roof top Rain> water-harvesting systems installed by the company in 3 Schools and One> Degree College. Our team realized that there was no issue against the> Coca-Cola operations but the issue was with the so-called Activists> who want to create an issue when there is no issue.>> ONE MUST LEARN TO OPEN THE EYES BEFORE WALKING> ONE MUST LEARN TO OPEN THE MIND BEFORE TALKING.>> S. Rajesh>> May 13, 2008 7:58 AM>>>>>>>>__._,_.___ 
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