World water meet begins today in Kerala

Plachimada, a sleepy hamlet in Kerala's Palakkad district, is all set to catch global attention in the next three days with the `World Water Conference,' symbolising the common man's struggle against corporate giants and proponents of globalisation.

The year-long agitation against the over-exploitation of groundwater by the Coca-Cola plant at Plachimada and the environmental pollution caused through the sludge discharged from the plant is reaching its crescendo with the three-day meet, coming close on the heels of the World Social Forum in Mumbai against globalisation.

The conference, for which the World Social Forum had pledged full support, would be held on January 21 and 22 at Plachimada, the site of the Coke plant and Puthussery where the Pepsi plant is located.

The meet is to begin with a get-together of cultural personalities tomorrow to be inaugurated by Jnanpith laureate MT Vasudevan nair. Two documentaries, `kaypuneer' (sour juice produced by P Baburaj and C Sarat Chandran ) nd `stolen water' made by Prasanth and Daya on the Plachimada issue would be screened on the inaugural day.

A prominent farmers' leader from France, Hosse Bue, who was fighting against the agricultural policies of the European Union would attend the meet, organisers said.