"Microsoft is building a data center in a tiny Indian village. Locals allege it’s dumping industrial waste", 20 August 2024

Dairy farmers like Haneef are now worried that their livelihood would be further threatened as a Silicon Valley giant is constructing a data center in Mekaguda.

In March 2022, Microsoft announced that it intended to build a data center on a 22-acre plot in the village. As of July this year, 70% of the construction of the building had been completed, according to the company. However, in July 2023, a group of 56 local residents filed a petition against Microsoft and 35 other companies and government bodies in Telangana’s High Court.

The petitioners claim that Microsoft has illegally occupied land beyond the boundaries of its property and dumped industrial waste into a nearby lake. They blame the local industry for environmental contamination, which they say hurts residents’ cattle and livelihood, and want the government to compel Microsoft and other companies to stop the alleged encroachment.

The hearing for the case is pending.

In response to detailed questions about the villagers’ allegations, Microsoft told Rest of World it has complied with all local requirements and has the necessary permits from the relevant administrative departments.

“Microsoft is committed to building and operating data centers responsibly, for the good of the community,” a company spokesperson said.

Microsoft’s Mekaguda data center is slated for completion by 2025 and will employ 180 people when it’s ready, according to a conceptual plan prepared by AECOM, Microsoft’s infrastructure consulting partner for the project.

On July 1, Microsoft’s representatives reportedly informed the Telangana government that the company had “some problems with the local panchayat” (village council). The state’s IT minister tasked the local administrator with resolving the issues “by evening” and urged Microsoft to complete construction by 2025.

On May 2, a judge rejected the petitioners’ request that the court direct Microsoft to “stop the illegal activities” while the case was pending. The judge also called the request “vague.” 

A hearing on the entire petition is yet to be scheduled.

According to the petition, which has been reviewed by Rest of World, Microsoft has occupied a pathway just outside the bounds of the property it purchased. The company “illegally occupied the cart-way and constructed a fencing approximately for a length of 380 [meters],” according to the petition. 

The petition also says that the software giant has been “causing air and water pollution by leaving their wastage in the illegally occupied Tungakunta Government Lake and Underground borewells, road and cart-way.”

When Rest of World visited the village twice in July, there were pipelines protruding from Microsoft’s boundary wall, which connected to the ground in piles of mud. The area was also flattened, cleared of vegetation, and secured with barbed wire fencing. A “private property” signboard was stuck between the boundary wall and the barbed-wire fence.

Rest of World could not independently verify the function of the pipelines or if the fence had been erected by Microsoft. 

Microsoft did not respond to an email seeking details about the pipeline and the fence.

In September 2023, Microsoft responded in court and asked for the petition to be dismissed. The company denied illegally occupying any land or polluting Tungakunta Lake. Microsoft also noted that as an IT company it does not dump industrial waste and does not plan to carry out any manufacturing activity on the land.

Microsoft’s response, reviewed by Rest of World, said that Reddy “indulged in various illegal activities … exploiting his position in the village to gain personally.” Reddy has denied these allegations.

Jasveen Jairath, founding convener of citizens’ initiative Save Our Urban Lakes and a researcher of politics in water management, told Rest of World that corporations like Microsoft “are bulldozing their way [and] the judiciary is extremely weak.”

Deals with large corporations like Microsoft are a feather in the cap of the local politician, she said, which is why administrators don’t act against potential violations.

In June, Microsoft made a worldwide pledge to use 100% renewable energy sources by 2025 and turn water-positive — replenish more water than it consumes — by 2030 at its data centers. In Mekaguda, though, the Telangana government is adding electricity sub-stations and flood-water canals to aid Microsoft’s construction. A new 220-kV grid supply line has been planned to meet the power requirements of the data center once it’s up and running.

Jayesh Ranjan, Telangana’s special chief secretary for information technology and electronic communications, told Rest of World that Microsoft had obtained all statutory permissions, and irrigation officers have been visiting the site regularly to ensure the construction takes place within permissible bounds.