Hans News Service Visakhapatnam

Indiais facing a serious environmental crisis, which should be a matter of grave concern for all, emphasised national convenor of Jal Biradari Bolisetty Satyanarayana on Tuesday.

Highlighting the 2026 Yale Environmental Performance Index (EPI), the environmental activist said India ranked 176th among 177 countries. “Given raising environmental concerns, CII Partnership Summit should focus on promoting pollution-free industries, green technologies, conservation of water resources and reduction of carbon emissions rather than focusing merely on industrial investments, production and job creation,” Satyanarayana stressed. At a time when India is facing severe water scarcity and serious environmental challenges, why are thousands of megawatts of data centre projects encouraged, he questioned, drawing the attention to hyperscale data centres. “People in several countries across the world are raising concerns about the enormous electricity consumption, water requirement and environmental impact of data centres,” the national convenor of Jal Biradari expressed concern. What are the actual economic benefits of these projects? What will be their environmental impact? How will their enormous water and electricity requirements be met and these are the points which needed larger attention, he conveyed.

Calling for scientific and evidence-based discussion at the CII Summit, rather than decisions being driven by political considerations, Satyanarayana mentioned that the summit should not remain an investment-oriented one but become a platform that provides global direction for pollution-free and environmentally-sustainable industrial development.