Proper environmental clearances cannot be given a go-by, says High Court CJ in Vizag data centre case
Bench seeks State’s response on alleged irregularities in land transfer and permissions for Google-owned data centre; Advocate-General asked to clarify government’s position
The High Court Chief Justice of Andhra Pradesh, Lisa Gill, emphasized that proper environmental clearances must not be disregarded in a recent case involving a data center project in Visakhapatnam. During a hearing for a petition filed by Bolisetty Satyanarayana, Gill stated that protecting the environment is a duty of the state government.
She also indicated that responsibility would be assigned to the officers involved once their names were provided. Advocate Virag Gupta argued on behalf of the petitioner, challenging the environmental impact assessment (EIA) records for the Google-owned data center. He claimed that there was no actual data localization as mandated by law and that the project would not contribute to the Indian digital economy.
Gupta further claimed that the 160-acre land parcel was transferred to VHDCPL without proper transfer from the Simhachalam Devasthanam, and the site was located near the Kambalakonda Reserve Forest's eco-sensitive zone, making it a Category-A project that needed central government scrutiny. The government's counsel stated that they were working to adhere to all applicable laws and that a unified response would be submitted regarding the land transfer issue.
Nine departments were notified as parties to the case, and the hearing was adjourned until the following week for all parties to submit further arguments and for the Attorney-General to clarify the state government's stance.
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