Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has officially declared drought in 265 of Maharashtra’s 358 talukas - nearly 75% of the state. And this is happening as Maharashtra aggressively expands its data-centre industry. The state has attracted over $300 billion in investment interest for data centres and is targeting 5.7 GW of data-centre capacity by 2032. Data centres require two critical resources: power and water. The amount of water they consume depends on the cooling technology used, but water requirement is an important consideration, particularly in water-stressed regions like Maharashtra. The government is reportedly planning a system where municipal corporations treat sewage, MIDC further purifies it, and the reclaimed water is then sold to data centres and other industries. But few crucial questions arise: 1. When nearly three-fourths of Maharashtra is officially under drought, what is the government’s plan to ensure that the state’s water resources are not diverted away from farmers and ordinary citizens to fuel this massive data-centre expansion? 2. In a state like Maharashtra - which has one of India’s highest farmer-suicide rates - who has the first right over water: farmers or data centres? 3. And if the state is prepared to set up a network to treat sewage and reclaim water for industry, why has no such urgency been shown in providing reliable reclaimed water for farmers - which could help reduce the distress driving farmer suicides?