"41 Lakh Liters Drained for a Phone: Food Inspector Suspended and Fined for Wasting Water"

A food inspector named Rajesh Vishwas in Chhattisgarh, India, was suspended for draining 41 lakh liters of water from a reservoir to retrieve his expensive smartphone.

Vishwas accidentally dropped his smartphone worth ₹1 lakh into the stilling basin of the dam's waste weir while taking a selfie with friends at the Paralkot Reservoir of Kherkatta Dam in Koilibeda block of Kanker district.

Local divers attempted to find the phone but were unsuccessful, so Vishwas decided to use two diesel pumps to continuously drain the water for four days until he retrieved his phone.

The drained water was enough to irrigate 1,500 acres of farmland and is also a source of water for animals and local farmers.

Vishwas claimed he had official departmental data on his phone and that the water he drained was "unusable."

The water resources department later stated that Vishwas did not seek permission from the "competent authority" to drain the water, which is illegal under the Chhattisgarh Irrigation Act.

Vishwas has been fined ₹43,000 for wasting 4.1 million liters of water and an additional ₹10,000 for evacuating water without permission.

The senior officer who allegedly gave Vishwas verbal permission to drain the water has been fined ₹53,000 for ordering the draining of the dam.

An investigation was initiated, and a show cause notice was issued to the senior officer responsible for granting permission.