Dalit women from Tarluvada village protested the forced acquisition of ancestral land for a new artificial intelligence data centre near Visakhapatnam [1, 2].
The conflict highlights the tension between India's rapid digital infrastructure expansion and the land rights of marginalized communities. While the government seeks to establish high-tech hubs, displaced families argue that the state is ignoring generations of land possession.
In late April 2024, the Indian government laid the foundation stone for the project [1, 2]. The planned facility is designed to span 600 acres [1] and will have a power capacity of one gigawatt [1]. The site is located on the outskirts of Visakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh [1, 2].
Throughout May 2024, women from the Dalit community in Tarluvada led protests against the acquisition [1, 2]. These families said the land has been in their possession for generations and resisted the forced takeover [1, 2].
The protests gained significant digital traction when a video of the demonstrations went viral [1, 2]. The footage amassed 2.5 million views before it was restricted on Instagram [1].
The project is part of a broader state effort to expand digital infrastructure to support AI growth [1, 2]. However, the displacement of the Tarluvada residents has drawn attention to the social cost of these technological advancements.
“Dalit women from Tarluvada village protested the forced acquisition of ancestral land.”
This incident underscores a recurring pattern in India's development strategy, where large-scale infrastructure projects for the tech sector often clash with the land tenure of Dalit and other marginalized groups. The restriction of the viral protest video further suggests a tension between grassroots digital activism and state-led narratives of progress.
