Thane: Opposition to the upcoming data centre at Balkum has resurfaced, with activists now demanding an immediate halt to its construction until the state’s water crisis eases and a govt-appointed committee reviews the project’s safeguards.Dayanand Nene of WakeUpThanekar, a citizen initiative, has now written to chief minister Devendra Fadnavis, questioning the need for pursuing the large hyperscale data centre amid mounting pressure on urban water supplies. In his email, he claims to have urged govt to suspend work until the drought situation in the state stabilises and the committee headed by Dr Anil Kakodkar submits its report on Maharashtra’s data centre policy.The state has constituted a special committee under nuclear scientist Dr Anil Kakodkar to review its data centre policy and recommend safeguards and standard operating procedures. Nene has urged govt to await its findings before allowing projects with significant environmental and civic implications to progress.Nene said he has argued that data centres require substantial quantities of water for cooling and operations, even as several parts of Thane and its suburbs depend heavily on private tankers to meet daily needs.“At such a critical juncture, the continued construction of a large hyperscale data centre at Balkum raises serious concerns regarding the prudent use of our already scarce water resources,” he said, warning against prioritising industrial requirements over citizens’ basic needs.The activist has also flagged potential environmental and civic concerns, including noise pollution, diesel-generator emissions, fire safety, heat generation and traffic disruption, arguing that the cumulative impact could further strain an already stressed urban ecosystem.Simultaneously, the opposition has also been revived by Manoj Pradhan, district president of the NCP (Sharadchandra Pawar), who has put up posters as a mark of his protest around the proposed facility. Pradhan warned that sustained noise from the centre could affect residents’ well-being.“We are not against development or the data centre. We want to know why it is being built in a densely populated urban area. If it affects the well-being of Thanekars, we will oppose it,” he said.Meanwhile, Nene maintained that the demand was not against investment or technological progress, but for development that accounts for water security, environmental safeguards and residents’ quality of life. He has urged the CM to intervene in the larger public interest.
