Water
Batam villagers' taps run dry for months as data centres expand in Nongsa Digital Park
Partially confirmed
- Date
- 2026-10-08
- Location
- Batam, Riau Islands, Indonesia
- Category
- Water
- POLLUTION
Evidence
- Did the harm happen?
- Disputed
- Did the data center cause it?
- Possible
- AI connection
- No verified AI connection
- What was affected
- Surface water, Human health, Existing property
- Why
- Water outages documented by multiple outlets; link to data centres is the residents' claim.
- Denials and outcomes
- BP Batam blamed a prolonged dry spell and denied that household water was diverted to data centres. The water utility did not comment on a link.
About 300 residents of Batam stormed a data centre compound in Nongsa Digital Park in October 2026, saying their taps had been dry for three months and that tanker water was dirty and smelly. After earlier protests, authorities told data centre firms to build their own desalination plants instead of relying on the island's reservoirs.