Google's $15 billion data center project in Visakhapatnam, India, built in partnership with Gautam Adani's group, is facing mounting opposition from environmentalists and residents. The city of 2.5 million people already rations water, receiving about 410 million litres a day against demand of 480 million, and activists say the new facility will deepen the shortage.
The site sits just 860 metres from the Kambalakonda Wildlife Sanctuary, home to leopards and pangolins, raising concerns that construction noise and machinery will disrupt the habitat. Protesters have marched through the city with banners reading "We cannot drink DATA" and painted handcuffs on the Google logo, while the Andhra Pradesh High Court is set to hear a public interest litigation challenge on August 24.
The state government, an ally of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has defended the project as historic and transformational, promising up to 188,000 jobs and a 20-year guaranteed water supply without diverting rural drinking water. Google says it will use "advanced air cooling" to protect local water resources and add sound-dampening measures near the sanctuary.