Brief

Note on Proposed 280000 Case Beverage Factory in Kotadeniyawa 1. Dabur Lanka Pvt Ltd, a BOI company set up by Dabur India, the 4th largest Indian manufacturer of fruit based beverages, is building a factory in Kotadeniyawa on prime coconut land to supply the whole1 of South India with fruit based beverages. 2. The land is situated2 on Yakadagallawatte, Kotadeniyawa on the B27 about 1km south of Kotadeniyawa town towards Divulapitiya. 3. They are at the moment at the site preparation stage and the topsoil in the front block of land that faces the main road is being removed and being taken elsewhere off the property. 4. Although Dabur Lanka has allegedly3 told the BOI they will be supplying finished products to the Sri Lankan market the Indian press says this is the first time a wholly owned Indian foreign subsidiary will cater exclusively to Indian markets.4 5. No Environmental Impact Assessment has been conducted on this land to date and the BOI approval has been obtained under Environmental Pollution Control provisions of the CEA under an alleged requirement of 30m3 daily which translates to roughly a 30 household requirement and would total 900000 litres per month. 6. However the plant output is stated as 280000 cases of 12 x 1 litre packs. This translates to 3.36 million litres of finished product. 7. Dabur are said to be planning several tube wells to tap in to the ground water that lies under the . 8. This a rock based rain fed aquifer that means no rain no water and it is the present ground water that is keeping Kotadeniyawas wells fed. If this water is removed and exported to India it will lead to the end of agriculture especially paddy and coconuts in the area. 9. My wifes family have been custodians of this land since 1832. Her father R.Y. Daniel and Sir Richard Aluvihare were two of the first four local people to join the Ceylon Civil Service. We returned to live on the estate in August, 1999. 10. We have been following the advice and practices of Ranil Senanayake, Kamy Melvani et al and have been preparing the land to plant an analog forest to increase biodiversity and restore the ecosystem. To this end we have remineralized5 soil and allowed it to remain fallow for more than 10 years, save extant coconut, with a view to rebuilding topsoil by providing nutrient for microorganisms. 11. We have installed alternate energy systems and are designing a production system to make the highest value added extra extra virgin coconut oil in the world. 12. We have never taken any money from the government or any other person or institution to develop this model of sustainable zero input small scale coconut and forest garden production. All investment has come in dollars out of my wifes personal savings from more than forty years of hard work in the U.S.A. 13. The idea has been to produce a working model for emulation through out the country of farm and forest garden food production for local consumption with high value addition at source.

Puwakwatte, Kotadeniyawa, 11232. 033 22 72841, 077 34 66 760, fmansoor@sltnet.lk

Brief Note on Proposed 280000 Case Beverage Factory in Kotadeniyawa 14. In all this I have been informed by the traditions, practices and thinking of my teacher Wanninayake Mudiyanse Tennekone to whom I made a promise to spend my life restoring mahasamatta in Lanka. 15. It is unclear why Dabur Lanka has chosen to build an export processing industry on prime coconut land so close to the Mirigama Export Processing Zone, which would have been much more suitable. 16. This bewildering since they do so by putting at risk viable extant agriculture. Feizal Mansoor

Puwakwatte, Kotadeniyawa, 11232. 033 22 72841, 077 34 66 760, fmansoor@sltnet.lk

Brief Note on Proposed 280000 Case Beverage Factory in Kotadeniyawa Addendum Some experiences of other countries with wells going dry from over consumption of ground water;
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=the-ogallala-aquifer http://geography.about.com/od/physicalgeography/a/aquifers.htm http://www.texastribune.org/texas-environmental-news/water-supply/how-bad-is-the-ogallalaaquifers-decline-in-texas/ http://www.napsva.org/va_dry_wells.html http://articles.herald-mail.com/keyword/water-wells http://www.bakersfield.com/news/columnist/henry/x1008888397/Dry-wells-promptgroundwater-lawsuit http://www.csmonitor.com/Environment/2010/0111/Will-drilling-more-wells-in-California-helpor-hurt http://www.wellmanager.com/wellmanager-environment.htm The experience in India of small villages and beverage manufacturers: India Resource Centerwww.indiaresource.org/PRESS: Water Levels Continue Dropping Sharply Around Coca-Cola Plant in Kala .... conditions in the area by over-extraction of groundwater as well as pollution. ... thousands of farmers experienced failed crops and water sources dried up. IRC- Coca-Cola - Rising Struggles, Falling Water - India Resource ...www.indiaresource.org/campaigns/coke/2004/risingstruggles.html24 Sep 2004 Anti-Coca-Cola Agitation Picks up in Kaladera, Rajasthan ... water at about 10-15 feet," said one farmer pointing at his now completely dry well. Coca-Cola: drinking the world dry | War on Wantwww.waronwant.org/news/.../15153coca-cola-drinking-the-world-d...19 Nov 2007 Coca-Cola: drinking the world dry 19 November 2007 Coca-Cola is one of the ... its own plants, drying up farmers' wells and destroying local agriculture. ... Nowhere has this been better documented than in India, where there ... Coca-Cola plant 'has dried up our farms' say Indian villagers The ...www.thenational.ae/.../coca-cola-plant-has-dried-up-our-farms-say-in...A Coca-Cola bottling plant opened up near the town of Kala Dera and, critics say, ... water supplies to such an extent that the surrounding farmland dried up. ... farming practices, as well as rampant industrial pollution and extraction," he said. Case against Coca-Cola Kerala State: India Right To Water and ...www.righttowater.info/.../case-against-coca-cola-kerala-state-india/In a number of districts of India, Coca Cola and its subsidiaries are accused of ... in the village of Plachimada, protested that their wells had dried up because of ...

Puwakwatte, Kotadeniyawa, 11232. 033 22 72841, 077 34 66 760, fmansoor@sltnet.lk

Brief Note on Proposed 280000 Case Beverage Factory in Kotadeniyawa

Coca-Cola Charged with Groundwater Depletion and Pollution in Indiaenvironment.about.com/od/waterpollution/a/groundwater_ind.htmLearn what India's government and citizens are doing, and how Coca-Cola is ... for example, persistent droughts have dried up groundwater and local wells, ... In India, Pressures on the Water Supply Created by a CocaCola ...www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=5006701719In India, Pressures on the Water Supply Created by a Coca-Cola Plant Have Caused Wells to Dry Up. Is It Just a Politically Motivated Thirst That Has Led Local ... Coca-Cola in India accused of leaving farms parched and land ...www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2003/jul/25/water.india25 Jul 2003 The largest Coca-Cola plant in India is being accused of putting ... nearest villagers become for water since their wells dried up that Coca-Cola ... NEWS: Kerala, India to fine Coca-Cola for damage to local waterwww.canadians.org/campaignblog/?p=653623 Feb 2011 NEWS: Kerala, India to fine Coca-Cola for damage to local water ... paddies and extracts up to 1.5 million litres of water every day to be made into Coke, Fanta, ... All 260-bore wells installed by public authorities have gone dry. Water rights rally launched; targets Coca-Cola ... - Infochange Indiainfochangeindia.org/.../water-rights-rally-launched-targets-coca-cola-...4 Jan 2012 The water rights campaign will end in the Indian capital New Delhi on ... of wells that had dried up increased seven-fold since Coca-Cola ...

Puwakwatte, Kotadeniyawa, 11232. 033 22 72841, 077 34 66 760, fmansoor@sltnet.lk

Brief Note on Proposed 280000 Case Beverage Factory in Kotadeniyawa

1

http://www.livemint.com/2011/09/27161202/Dabur8217s-Lanka-unit-to-ca.html: Daburs Lanka unit to cater to south India By Sapna Agarwal This is the first time a consumer packaged goods company is setting up a wholly owned subsidiary outside India to cater exclusively to Indian markets 2 Google Maps Link: http://maps.google.com/?ll=7.299131,80.058553&spn=0.054061,0.090895&hnear=Kotadeniyawa+Rd,+Ku runegala,+North+Western+Province,+Sri+Lanka&t=m&z=14 3 http://sundaytimes.lk/110821/BusinessTimes/bt02.html: Indias 4th largest FMCG firm launches new subsidiary in Sri Lanka By Bandula Sirimanna 4 ibid. 5 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_D._Hamaker

Puwakwatte, Kotadeniyawa, 11232. 033 22 72841, 077 34 66 760, fmansoor@sltnet.lk