Corporate Accountability International, formerly known as Infact, has launched a new initiative challenging corporations that are threatening people's access to water. In coordination with allies in India, Corporate Accountability International is pressuring
Coca-Cola to stop draining water from some of the world's poorest communities. This month, as thousands support a 150-mile march in northeastern India from one Coke bottling facility to another, people across the US are taking action to demand an end to Coke's abuses in India.
"We cannot allow corporations to steal our water and turn it into an unaffordable luxury in India -- or anywhere else. This month, in major cities across the US, people are rejecting such abusive corporate practices," say Corporate Accountability International's Campaigns Director Patti Lynn.
As a result of corporate water extraction, at least five communities across India face severe water shortages and health problems. In Plachimada, in southern India, corporate water extraction has dried up hundreds of hand-pumped wells, leaving people without enough water for basic needs. In Mehdiganj, in northeastern India, corporations have decreased the level of groundwater by 40 feet, leaving small farmers without enough water to irrigate their crops.
These practices are part of a much larger problem of corporations contributing to a global water shortage. The United Nations estimates that two-thirds of the world's population will not have enough water by 2025 if current trends are not reversed. According to a former Vice President of the World Bank, "The wars of the 21st century will be fought over water." Coke's water depletion contributes to this problem and is making water shortage a reality right now for some communities.
Source: Corporate Accountability International
