The Human Rights Forum (HRF) calls for immediate stoppage of all ongoing site activities at the proposed Vizag Hyperscale Data Center project of M/s Vizag Hyperscale Data Center Park Limited in Adavivaram and Mudasarlova villages of Visakhapatnam Rural mandal. HRF also takes strong exception to the grant of a No Objection Certificate (NOC) by the State Forest Departmentto the 160-acre project, given the ecological sensitivity and rich bio-diversity of the area. The project site is also located in close proximity to the Kambalakonda Wildlife Sanctuary and its notified Eco-Sensitive Zone (ESZ).
AnHRF team visited the proposed project site, a lush green stretch in the Kailasgiri forest forming part of the Simhachalam hill range, on 18 May 2026. We were shocked to observe trees and vegetation being cleared and portions of the landscape already altered. Groundwork, land levelling and the laying of a temporary construction road were underway.These activities have reportedly been continuing for several weeks.This constitutes a brazen illegality because the project has not obtained Environmental Clearance (EC). Under the environmental regulatory framework, no project proponent can undertake site preparation, landscape alteration, tree felling or related activities before securing environmental clearance. Permitting such activities defeats the very purpose of environmental appraisal and reduces the clearance process to a fait accompli.
Furthermore, the proposed project, promoted by the Google-Raiden-Adani consortium, is being improperly processed before the State Level Expert Appraisal Committee (SEAC)as a Category B2 project. In law, however, the project unmistakably attracts the General Condition under the EIA Notification, 2006 owing to its close proximity to the Kambalakonda Wildlife Sanctuary and its Eco-Sensitive Zone. It must therefore be treated as a Category A project and subjected to appraisal by the Expert Appraisal Committee (EAC) of the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF&CC) at the Centre, along with a comprehensive Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) study and mandatory public hearing. By misclassifying the project as a B2 category, the project proponent and the authorities have effectively denied affected communities their statutory right to be heard through public consultation. This is a right that lies at the heart of environmental due process, transparency and democratic accountability.
Significantly, the project proponent’s own Environmental Management Plan (EMP) records that the site lies barely 0.86 km from the boundary of the KambalakondaWildlife Sanctuary and about 0.45 km from its notified Eco-Sensitive Zone. The General Condition under the EIA Notification is clear and unequivocal: any Category B project located within 10 km of a Protected Area notified under the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972 is required to be treated as a Category A project. The SEAC, therefore, lacks jurisdiction to appraise the proposal as a B2 project.
It is deeply disturbing that despite these admitted facts, the Form-I application answers ‘No’ to whether the project attracts the General Condition and ‘No’ to whether the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972 is applicable. These assertions are directly contradicted by the project proponent’s own documents. The apparent attempt to evade Category A appraisal and thereby avoid a full Environmental Impact Assessment study and mandatory public hearing raises serious concernsregarding regulatory transparency, legality and compliance with environmental law.
Also read:
https://humanrightsforum.org/google-data-center-mou-must-be-made-public/
The grant of anNOC by the State Forest Department under such circumstances is wholly unacceptable. No prior approval appears to have been obtained from the Forest Advisory Committee (FAC) of the MOEF&CC. The Forest Department cannot mechanically issue clearances or no-objection certifications for projects located in forestedlandscapes adjoining a Protected Area and ESZ without rigorous ecological scrutiny and due application of mind. The Kambalakonda Wildlife Sanctuary constitutes an ecologically vital green zone for Visakhapatnam and plays a critical role in biodiversity conservation, groundwater recharge and ecological stability in the region.The entire process appears to be in disregard of the objectives and safeguards contained in the Forest (Conservation) Act (FCA), 1980. The State Forest Department must cease functioning as a mere rubber-stamp for corporate interests.
Also read:
https://humanrightsforum.org/google-data-center-represents-a-looming-environmental-economic-disaster-hrf/
Equally alarming is the location of the proposed data center site near the Mudasarlova reservoir, an important drinking water source for Visakhapatnam city. The project site lies directly across the Hanumanthuvaka-Simhachalam BRTS road from the reservoir and falls squarely within its broader southern catchment area. Therefore, any data center construction activity will inhibit water inflows into Mudasarlova. Any large-scale construction activity involving extensive land alteration, massive built-up infrastructure, diesel storage and the operation of large generator backup systems will pose serious long-term risks to the reservoir ecosystem and to the city’s water security.
The project itself is a massive 512 MW hyperscale data center. Yet, crucial environmental aspects, particularly the cooling system and the project’s actual water requirements, appear to have been inadequately disclosed or altogether omitted from the Environmental Management Plan. The EMP claims a fresh water requirement of only 246 KLD, a figure that appears implausibly and ridiculously low for a hyperscale facility of this scale.
Like the earlier data center proposals in Tarluvada and Rambilli, the present venture is being portrayed as a routine ‘Building and Construction’activity when in reality it is a large industrial-scale undertaking with significant implications for ecology, water resources, air quality and urban environmental sustainability. This recurring pattern of misclassification points to a systematic strategy of regulatory evasion in Andhra Pradesh that excludes affected communities and shields corporate project proponents from public scrutiny.
HRF demands immediate stoppage of all site-clearing and landscape-altering activities at the project location pending lawful environmental appraisal. We further demand that the SEAC decline to entertain the proposal for want of jurisdiction and direct the project proponent to seek appraisal before the MoEF&CC as a Category A project requiring a comprehensive EIA study and mandatory public consultation.HRF has already submitted objections before the SEAC in this regard.
Also read:
https://humanrightsforum.org/suspend-environmental-clearances-to-hyperscale-data-parks-hrf/
Environmental laws and regulatory safeguards cannot be reduced to empty formalities so as to facilitate large corporate projects. Such protections cannot be bypassed through regulatory dilution, misleading declarations, piecemeal approvals or outright illegalities. What is at stake is not merely a single proposal, but the protection of an ecologically fragile landscape adjoining the Kambalakonda Wildlife Sanctuary and the safeguarding of the Mudasarlova reservoir, an important drinking water source for Vizag. Permitting tree felling, landscape alteration and project activity even prior to environmental clearance strikes at the very foundation of lawful oversight.
HRF urges the MOEF&CC to immediately intervene and halt the ongoing subversion of environmental law by the AP government.Those responsible for the illegal destruction of forest at the Adavivaram site, along with all officials and agencies that enabled, facilitated or connived in these unlawful acts, must be held accountable and subjected to criminal prosecution in accordance with law.
Y Rajesh – HRF AP State General Secretary
VS Krishna – HRF AP & TG Coordination Committee Member
20-05-2026
Visakhapatnam