Even as CM Chandrababu Naidu and his son Nara Lokesh have been projecting Visakhapatnam as a major data hub after laying the foundation stone for a Google AI data centre, retired IAS officer and former Union Energy Secretary EAS Sarma has raised serious concerns over the project’s environmental clearances.
On Tuesday, Sarma wrote to the Union Environment Ministry, urging it to revoke the environmental clearances (ECs) granted to two major data centre projects in Andhra Pradesh.
He alleged that the approvals were issued in violation of statutory environmental norms and under political pressure.
According to Sarma, the Andhra Pradesh State Environment Impact Assessment Authority (APSEIAA) “hurriedly” granted ECs to Vizag Mega Data Center Park Ltd and Vizag Rambilli Data Center Park Ltd by incorrectly classifying them as Category B projects.
He claimed that both projects are part of a larger data centre ecosystem being developed near Visakhapatnam by Google, through its subsidiary Raiden, in partnership with the Adani Group.
The projects are reportedly spread across more than 600 acres at multiple locations.
Sarma alleged that instead of conducting a comprehensive environmental impact assessment for the entire project, APSEIAA divided it into smaller components and granted approvals separately in a “piecemeal” manner.
He argued that this was done to bypass stricter evaluation norms applicable to large-scale Category A projects under the EIA Notification, 2006.
He further contended that the Rambilli data centre project should have been treated as a Category A project due to its proximity to several notified forest areas, including Kalavalapalli, Rambilli, Sitapalem, Gokivada, and Pudimadaka reserved forests.
Citing the “General Condition” clause of the 2006 EIA notification, Sarma said that projects located within 10 km of protected or ecologically sensitive zones must be appraised at the central level by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC).
However, he alleged that APSEIAA proceeded with state-level clearance by categorising the project under Category B.
The former bureaucrat also raised concerns about cumulative environmental stress, particularly on Visakhapatnam’s already strained water resources.
He warned that multiple data centres drawing from common water sources could worsen water scarcity in the region.
Additionally, Sarma pointed out that groundwater in the Rambilli area is already critically polluted, citing findings from the Central Ground Water Board.
He alleged that the environmental impact assessment report failed to adequately account for this issue.
