A college in the United States has decided to stop buying Coca-Cola products in protest against the company's global practices and has sought an independent investigation into allegations of water use in India. CocaCola set up a bottling plant at Plachimada in Palakkad (Kerala) in 2000. The local community forced the company to shut down the plant in March 2004 because the ground water started to decline and toxic waste polluted the wells. Swarthmore College joins several other colleges and universities in the US and elsewhere who have refused to do business with the Coke company until it cleans up its act.