Change, but no closure, in Plachimada

The defunct Coca-Cola building in Plachimada was recently converted by the Kerala government into a COVID-19 care facility. But it will take more than a transformation to appease the people of the village who won the battle against the multinational company but are still waiting for compensation, writes Abdul Latheef Naha

In Plachimada, a small Adivasi village in Palakkad district of Kerala, a building, once infamous, was lying derelict and abandoned until recently. Overrun by weeds and bushes, it was hard to imagine that this building was once the bottling plant of Hindustan Coca-Cola Beverages, the Indian subsidiary of the Atlanta-based manufacturer of aerated drinks. Spread over 34 acres, the 35,000 sq ft ‘Coke building’, as it is referred to by the locals, used to look haunted. Winds would whistle through broken windowpanes and snakes would lie hidden in the thick undergrowth. People rarely loitered in the area. Today, the sprawling single-storey edifice wears a fresh coat of paint. The ‘Coca-Cola’ logo has disappeared from the entrance of the building, which smells of disinfectants and paint. The contested site now serves an important purpose, to meet the challenges of the times. The Government of Kerala has spruced up and . The company that had once caused grief to the locals closed the plant and left long ago, but the building remained a symbol of despair. While the government believes that it has now become a sign of hope for all those affected by the raging pandemic, the villagers of Plachimada are not as enthused.