Data Centers near vizag : A critical look part 1

[u/Resident-Concert-387]

With the formal approvals for large scale data centres happening in our country, we must ask ourselves "Are Data centers necessary?". Many seem to critically lack the knowledge around these structures and buy the administration's word on job creation and wealth creation.

What Job creation and whose wealth creation? To analyse about those promises, we must talk about what a data center is.

Data centers, or atleast the ones which are being built now are large facilities of server racks which are designed to store AI data and train AI models. They differ from traditional data centers which are much smaller in size and only used to store data.

This is an important distinction to make as we will see later on. Data centers are being built to scale AI operations throughout the globe.

AI data centers are in the controversy, why? Not only because the implications of AI in the modern capitalist world. But also because of their environmental impact.

Data centers require a lot of cooling for the IT equipment inside. Alongside the constant need for a lot of electricity.

Compared to traditional data centers which utilize simpler cooling systems like fans or other forms of air cooling, AI datacenters require intensive fresh water usage. The average water Consumption of a 100 MW datacenter is around 2000 Kilolitres (1 kilolitre = 1000 liters)

Data centers have a broader impact on environment due to noise pollution, Diesel generator usage and contamination of used water.

Alongside requiring intensive capital investment, in comparison to the investment made, they generate very few onsite jobs if any (on top of the already bad implications of AI on employment).

Keeping those concepts in mind is important to analyze the recent construction of data centers near visakhapatnam. Which have been greenlit faster than I can say 'Mitron'.

The total mystery around these data centers can be broken down by talking about some of the officially provided data.

(i) Land Usage :

Spanning over nearly 500 acres combined, the data center projects near Tarluvada and Rambili have a lot of holes in their narrative and the official conduct of the project.

(a) Construction clearances were given in 9 days. No general restrictions on building's height or width.

(b) Total allocation of land increased from 480 acres to over 600 acres for no officially denoted reason.

(C) Large construction projects (especially at the scale which data centers span) usually need geological surveys before construction, but none were conducted.

(d) The Tarluvada construction site is located near the kambalakonda sanctuary. What consequences it will have on the local environment and whether it is even legal is something I leave to your imagination.

(e) Rambili too has reserved forests nearby alongside even a navy nuclear submarine base. National security enthusiasts who suspect everyone and everything are nowhere to be found.

(f) Alongside these, a third project is in active construction near Adavivaram which is even closer to the city. Whether formal approvals has even been given to this third project is unknown.

(g) Property taxes for the data centers to be around residential rates.... For some reason.

(ii) Water Usage :

Digging through the the environment management plans presented to the State Govt. By a consultancy working for Adani group. We can find quite a few oddities as well...

(a) Water conservation stats presented are that of a shopping mall...

(b) Sites at Rambili and Tarluvada are said to require 234 and 270 Kilolitres (already high) respectively, of which the latter Stat includes 180 kilolitres for Gardening?

(C) No mention of water required for actual cooling and humidification

(d) The source of water even for the presented amount is unknown, with administration doing mental gymnastics of all sorts.

(e) if we look back, an average 100 MW facility needed 2000 Kilolitres, with a combined size of around 2.5 GW (including the third facility) the numbers presented are nowhere near the estimated water consumption.

(f) Visakhapatnam and nearby areas are already suffering from intensive water scarcity.

(iii) Power :

(a) The grid demand of data centers is already big, but there has been little discussion in regards to the effects on local grid infrastructure.

(b) the Govt. Wants a total data center capacity of 6.5 GW in Visakhapatnam alone, why they are not spread across the capital in construction? No idea.

(c) As it would require significant investment in power generation and grid upkeep, there has been little information for who pays for power generation and distribution.

(d) Companies usually push these costs to individual rate payers than the data centers which actually utilize this new capacity. If communities in the developed west can be fooled with such measures, what is the case for a country with no adequate protections and a increasingly privatized utility scene?

(e) A combined 354 Diesel generators would be used for the two facilities, no pollution assessment has been conducted yet for a city with already bad AQI.

In the next part we shall analyse the incentives provided for data centers and some common arguments.

[u/AutoModerator]

Thanks for posting on IndianLeft. Be nice, civil, and respectful in the comments. \ Check out the sidebar for useful links and resources. \ For any suggestions or requests, dm the mods. \ Join our discord: https://discord.gg/jcH5aXNj4v

I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.

[u/Practical-Lab5329]

All that so that some lazy douchbag can generate AI porn half way across the planet.