Green Visakha is seeking cancellation of data center permits a day after the assembly

Green Visakha members and others, many of them wearing black, with banners and placards during a rally against AI data centers in Visakhapatnam on Wednesday. | Photo credit: BY ARRANGEMENT

Environmental NGO Green Visakha on Thursday demanded cancellation of all permits for AI data centers in Visakhapatnam and Anakapalli districts and stop construction in Tarluvada and Adavivaram. The demand came a day after a rally was held in the city to mark the first anniversary of the state government’s Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Google for an artificial intelligence center in Visakhapatnam.

The MoU, signed on October 14, 2025, provides for an investment of US$15 billion, with AdaniConneX as the partner.

The organization also sought a white paper on the agreements. It said the government had not followed the “Data Center Assessment Framework to Help States Plan for Sustainable Growth” and that approvals granted without an environmental impact assessment and public hearing were not legally valid.

NITI Aayog’s Frontier Tech Hub released the framework on Wednesday. In a post on X, NITI Aayog described it as a decision support tool that can be tailored to a state’s priorities “without adding another layer of regulation”.

“On Wednesday, around 200 people, most of them wearing black, walked from the HP gas sink near the old dairy farm to the last bus stop at Ravindranagar, despite heavy rain,” said Green Visakha Treasurer G. Kantarao. The day was perceived as a “black day for Vizag” by the participants. Members of Climate Action, Coalition to Regulate Artificial Intelligence, Pourachaitanya Vedika and student organizations joined in and raised slogans like “Stop Vizag Data Centres”.

The rally concluded with a 10-minute street play ‘Datasura Vadhanam’. “It covers how the data center came as the devil, tried to divide people and influence them, said it will create jobs,” protester Asha said. The play ends with the people united after realizing the value of their land and water, and “Mother Nature” exhorting them to protect their resources.

N. Chandra Shekhar, secretary of the organization, said the group would seek candidature for mayor and data center corporator in the upcoming local body elections.

Published – 16 Oct 2026 0:50 AM IST