Human Rights Forum questions transparency of proposed Vizag data centres
Speakers at a Human Rights Forum conference in Visakhapatnam raised concerns about transparency surrounding proposed data and AI data centres, including their water and power needs and promised employment. They also questioned environmental clearances, public hearings and the wider effects of energy-intensive infrastructure on communities.
Speakers at a Human Rights Forum conference in Visakhapatnam have questioned the transparency of proposed data and artificial-intelligence data centres in Andhra Pradesh, raising concerns about water, electricity, employment and environmental approvals. The discussion took place during the forum’s tenth Visakha district conference at Alluri Vignana Kendram in Daba Gardens on Sunday. About 100 people, including young participants and organisation veterans, attended the event, which was themed “Remembering Balagopal”.
Y. Rajesh, general secretary of the Human Rights Forum’s Andhra Pradesh unit, said younger participants were interested in the organisation’s recent involvement in debates over data centres. He said people in Visakhapatnam were concerned about a lack of transparency, changing positions by the State on water and power requirements, and unclear information about employment generation.
Rajesh also alleged that police had restricted processions and that some social media posts had been blocked. The source material does not include a response from the police or the Andhra Pradesh government to those allegations. Phanindra, a software developer and member of the Free Software Movement, spoke after a seven-minute film on what he called destructive AI data centres.
He argued that supplying power to such facilities could affect communities already displaced by hydroelectric and solar projects. He referred to Polavaram, solar projects requiring large areas in Anantapur district and a proposed 3,200-megawatt power plant in Srikakulam. Phanindra also raised questions about environmental clearances, public hearings and the classification of projects.
He said the proposed data-centre capacity in the State had risen to 8 gigawatts from an initial target of 6.5GW, citing project figures compiled by stopdirtydatacenters.org. A question-and-answer session followed, with participants discussing how technology users could engage with the issue. The conference speakers’ concerns were presented at the event; the source material does not establish whether the projects will proceed as described or provide official responses on their water, power or employment requirements.
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