Now Reading: Thane residents protest Amazon data centre over water, power fears
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Thane residents protest Amazon data centre over water, power fears
Residents in Thane and Visakhapatnam have launched organised protests against proposed mega data centres by Amazon and a Google-Adani venture. In Thane, the Wake Up Thanekar group led a human chain protest…
The Story in Brief
Residents in Thane and Visakhapatnam have launched organised protests against proposed mega data centres by Amazon and a Google-Adani venture. In Thane, the Wake Up Thanekar group led a human chain protest on July 18 against Amazon's hyperscale data centre planned on 53 acres at Balkum. Activists cite concerns over water use, power demand of 420 MW, and a potential heat island effect from cooling systems. Amazon says its approved water supply permit is only 0.01 MLD for basic human needs and that it does not use water for cooling in India. The Thane Municipal Corporation stated the facility would receive 12 MLD of treated sewage water for industrial use. Residents in Visakhapatnam are opposing a proposed 1-GW Google-Adani data centre complex across 480 acres, raising similar concerns.
The Indian Opinion
The protests mix genuine local worries with exaggerated claims. Saying 80,000 ACs will raise temperatures by 2-3 degrees Celsius is an assertion without independent backing. Amazon says it uses no water for cooling, yet residents cite a municipal commissioner's statement that 12 MLD of treated sewage water will be supplied. The real test will be the civic body's own environmental impact assessment. Until it is made public, neither side's numbers can be taken on faith.
Sources (2): frontline.thehindu.com, hindustantimes.com
This story was synthesised by AI from the 2 sources linked above.
Updated: this story now draws on 2 sources.
