Mumbai: Shiv Sena-UBT MP Sanjay Raut in a letter to Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Wednesday demanded an immediate freeze on the ongoing data centre project in Thane.
Citing severe risks to local infrastructure, massive resource depletion, and unmitigated environmental impacts, Raut urged the state government to halt the project until a comprehensive state-level policy is framed.
The Shiv Sena-UBT leader highlighted that while technological infrastructure is growing rapidly across the state, it should not come at the expense of residents’ basic civic amenities and ecological balance.
He urged CM Fadnavis to organise a joint consultation meeting involving officials from the Thane Municipal Corporation (TMC), Maharashtra Pollution Control Board (MPCB), power distribution companies, water supply authorities, and project developers, alongside local citizen representatives.
He also demanded to make all regulatory approvals—including construction permissions, water supply allocations, power load sanctioning, tree-felling permits, and environmental clearances—publicly accessible.
The legal validity of currently active and lapsed permissions must also be clarified, the Shiv Sena-UBT leader said.
Raut also appealed to conduct an independent expert evaluation of the facility’s daily and peak water usage, water sources, recycling capabilities, and cooling technologies.
He demanded clarity on the scope and validity of the developer’s “water-free cooling” claims.
Raut has also urged to publish clear details regarding peak electricity demand, dedicated power supply arrangements, and the potential load impact on the local grid.
The state must clarify who will bear the capital expense of building the required power infrastructure, he said.
As far as pollution and environmental impact controls are concerned, Raut demanded the assessment of potential noise and air pollution impacts on nearby residential buildings, with strict compliance enforced for backup diesel generators, cooling systems, and ongoing construction.
He has made a strong case for hosting an open public hearing to address residents’ concerns directly.
“Official minutes of the meetings, commitments made by developers, and strict implementation timelines must be published. Enforce immediate regulatory restrictions and halts if violations of permission terms are detected, permitting work to resume only after complete corrective measures are taken,” Raut demanded.
He has called upon the state government to formulate clear, statewide policy guidelines addressing water consumption, electricity usage, emissions, noise, and community impact for data centres across Maharashtra.
He emphasised the need to deliberate whether setting up such energy-intensive data centres in densely populated residential areas is necessary at present, calling for a total stay on the Thane project in the interim.
The Chief Minister’s Office is yet to issue an official response regarding the requested stay on the project.
Raut’s move to demand freeze on Thane data centre comes when local civic activists and residents have voiced growing concerns over potential power instability, water diversion, and localised heat island effects in suburban neighbourhoods amid development of data centre hubs across the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR).
(IANS)
