Rajesh Vishwas, a food officer working in Chhattisgarh state in India, has been suspended on Friday after allegedly requesting the draining of a reservoir to retrieve his lost phone, which fell into the water while he was taking a selfie. Vishwas was stationed in Pakhanjur town in the Kanker district.
According to media reports, approximately two million liters (440,000 gallons) of water were pumped out of the reservoir to recover a phone valued at around $1,200.
The process of emptying the water from the Kherkatta Dam took over two days and started on Tuesday.
Kanker Collector Priyanka Shukla confirmed Vishwas’ suspension, stating as reported by the media, “The official had no authority to drain the water. Hence, he has been suspended.”
Shukla emphasized the importance of water as an essential resource and expressed that it should not be wasted in this manner, in an interview with The National newspaper.
Media reports indicated that Vishwas had visited the Paralkot reservoir for a picnic with friends on May 21 when he accidentally dropped his phone into the 10-foot-deep reservoir.
According to reports, Vishwas claimed that his phone slipped out of his hand while taking a selfie, and he felt the need to retrieve it due to the official departmental data stored on the device.
Vishwas shared with The Indian Express, “Since I am a local, some villagers who know how to swim dove in to find my phone. They searched for it for two days. When they failed to locate it by Tuesday, they suggested draining the water by a few feet.”
He added, “I believed the phone would be damaged by now, but the locals, who have a good relationship with me, insisted that they would find it for me.”
Vishwas further explained, “I called the sub-divisional officer (SDO) of the Water Resources Department (RC Dhivar), who verbally gave permission since it was only a few feet of water. On Tuesday night, I rented a diesel pump for Rs 7,500 and drained around three feet of water from the reservoir over a two-day period.”
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