Mylamma.....A Prophetess

Mylamma was an adivasi woman , a resident of Vijayanagar colony in Plachimada village, in Kerala. “Plachimada” struggle is one of the examples of the on-going struggles all over the world, between the grassroot people and MNC's.

The Plachimada protest is against the Hindustan Coca Cola Beverages Pvt. Ltd. , which established its bottling plant in Perumatty Panchayat, in Palakkad District. The story is about the monopolisation of the ground water and pollution of the water and thereby negating the basic need of the local people. But the people's struggle went on under the leadership of Mylamma.

She was in the forefront of the agitation by local tribal people and others against the alleged exploitation of groundwater and environment pollution by the bottling unit of Hindustan Coca-Cola Beverages Pvt. Ltd. at Plachimada.

The agitation launched by the Anti-Coca Cola Agitation Committee in April 2002 in front of the company gate demanding its closure is still continuing.

Mayilamma, who was a worker in the company, joined the agitation after a year of its operation, when the local people noticed depletion and pollution of water in their wells.She was a recipient of many awards, including the Speak Out Award of Outlook.
The words of Mylamma, who had been leading the Plachimada protest till she died will help us her vision about the struggle.


She Said,

“They came to our village with glittering offers; that our people would get many job opportunities in the plant; the overall development of our village would be taken care of; the economic growth of the area would be strengthened etc. We waited and waited… nothing miraculous happened. On the contrary, six months went by, slowly we started facing the reverse effects. Except a few, nobody from the locality was given jobs. The water level in the wells of the surrounding colonies showed a sharp depletion. The quality of the water -its odour, taste, hardness- got worsened. It became non-potable. We stopped using it. We were forced to fetch water from a distance of three to five kilometres. Several uncommon diseases started showing their neck out. The farmers around the plant stopped cultivation due to severe shortage of water. This was another thunderbolt on us that took away our daily little earnings. We were forced to migrate to faraway lands, seeking for some work or other to make our living. Suddenly we felt terribly helpless, facing the fact that we were being robbed. Our precious water resource had been stolen… lakhs of liters every day… Where would I get some fresh and pure drinking water any more? How many kilometers should we have to walk to fetch a drop of water? Who will compensate the heavy loss incurred upon us by this giant plant?”(featured in the “Pipal Tree”, on the 15th of May 2009)

She was suffering from psoriasis and many health problems by her continuous hard work in keeping the protest alive, probably aggravated her condition and she was finally defeated by death only(She died in Jan 2009).


A Prohetess of this time.
God of justice we thank you for her lfe.