The Communist Party of India (CPI) on Friday demanded the cancellation of the allotment of 160 acres of land belonging to the Sri Varaha Lakshmi Narasimha Swamy Devasthanam to private companies for proposed data centre projects, alleging that the move would harm the environment.

Addressing a protest organised by the party at Sri Krishnapuram near the project site, CPI State Secretariat member J.V. Satyanarayana Murthy said the State government was pursuing policies that were detrimental to the environment even as World Environment Day was being observed globally. He alleged that Visakhapatnam had emerged as a major pollution hotspot and criticised the government for failing to take adequate measures to address air and dust pollution.

Mr. Murthy expressed concern over the allotment of land to private firms in the name of development and claimed that large-scale industrial projects and data centres could adversely affect the region’s ecology. He urged the government to revoke all permissions granted for the proposed project. CPI district secretary S.K. Rahiman and other party leaders participated in the protest.