BATAM, Indonesia — Residents in the Nongsa district of Batam staged a road blockade on October 5 to protest worsening water shortages, which they say have left their neighborhoods without piped water for months amid ongoing data centre construction in the area. The protest at Nongsa Digital Park comes amid growing frustration over access to clean water in the Riau Islands region.

Dozens of residents blocked access to the digital park, preventing vehicles from entering the site. Police and military personnel were deployed to manage the situation and restrict entry. Protesters agreed to disperse following assurances from the Batam Development Authority (BP Batam) that water supplies would be restored within two days. As a temporary measure, six water tanker trucks were dispatched to serve affected neighborhoods.

By October 7, water services had been partially restored to approximately 53% of the impacted areas, but residents remained dissatisfied. "If this issue is not resolved soon and the disruption happens again, we will stage further protests," said local resident Juliardi Adinda.

Protesters claim the data centre expansion has exacerbated water shortages. Andi Lalang, another resident, stated that since construction began, their water supply had been cut off for periods ranging from three to six months.

BP Batam officials, however, have disputed the connection between the data centres and the water crisis. Denny Tondano, deputy head of business development at BP Batam, attributed the shortage primarily to the ongoing El Nino weather phenomenon, which has caused an extended dry season and reduced water levels in the Nongsa Reservoir—the main water source for residential areas.

According to Denny, water supplies for industrial data centres and local communities come from separate sources. Data centres in Nongsa Digital Park are supplied via a dedicated pipeline from the Duriangkang Reservoir, which has maintained normal water levels, while residential areas rely on the Nongsa Reservoir, where water availability has declined sharply due to drought conditions.

Denny also noted that some data centre operators have implemented measures to reduce their water consumption, such as installing rainwater collection ponds and planning seawater reverse osmosis facilities. He cited Equator, a large data centre in the park, as not yet operating at full capacity.

Nara Dewa, human resources director at Nongsa Digital Park, confirmed the protest disrupted activities and raised concerns among international tenants. He denied claims that data centre operations were responsible for the shortages but called on the government to fulfill its commitments to residents to provide adequate water services.

Data centres typically require significant volumes of water for server cooling, with large facilities consuming up to 20 million liters (five million gallons) per day—comparable to the daily water needs of communities ranging from 10,000 to 50,000 people.

At present, Batam is home to at least 16 hyperscale data centre projects in various industrial estates, including Nongsa, Kabil, Tembesi, and Batam Centre. BP Batam anticipates full operational status for these facilities by 2027 to 2028 and asserts it is taking measures to ensure sufficient water and electricity supplies to support the expanding data centre industry.