Batam Island residents protest, accuse data centers after taps dry
People on Batam Island, Indonesia, are protesting at Nongsa Digital Park because their taps have been dry for three months.
Locals say data centers have access to the area's water while they're left scrambling for basics.
Officials blame the weather, but residents aren't buying it and want action taken.
Residents rely on dirty tanker water
With no clean water at home, residents now rely on tanker trucks supplying what she described as "dirty, cloudy, and smelly" water, adding to household expenses.
Dewi Susanti, a resident of Bakau Serip village, said, "Not a single drop has come through our taps for the last three months... Our water supply had been reliable until the data centers came."
The rapid growth of data centers is making things worse, and authorities are urging companies to build desalination plants before things get even more serious.