Chhattisgarh official drains reservoir to find cellphone he dropped during selfie

Vishwas had gone for a picnic with friends to Paralkot reservoir on May 21. He dropped his phone into the 10-foot-deep reservoir while taking a selfie.

A government servant for the past nine years, Vishwas told The Indian Express, “Since I am a local, some villagers who know swimming dove in to find my phone. They looked for it for two days. When they failed to locate it by Tuesday, they suggested draining the water by a few feet. I said the phone would be damaged by now, but the locals, who share a good rapport with me, insisted that they would find it for me.”

Stating that he had bought the phone just two months ago and was extremely upset since he dropped it into the reservoir, Vishwas added, “I called up the sub divisional officer (SDO) of Water Resources Department (RC Dhivar), who gave oral permission as it was just a few feet of water. On Tuesday night, I hired a diesel pump for Rs 7,500 and drained around three feet of water from the reservoir over a period of two days.”

Watch | A food inspector posted in #Chhattisgarh Kanker district was suspended after he drained out around 21 lakh litres of water from a reservoir next to a dam to fish out his recently-bought Samsung phone. pic.twitter.com/jXWzwfGSI3

— The Indian Express (@IndianExpress) May 26, 2023

However, a show cause notice issued by the Collector stated that according to information received by the authorities, “nearly 21 lakh litres of water” had been removed from the reservoir.

The phone, which was found in a damaged condition, was located and handed over to Vishwas.

To a question on how much water was drained in total from the reservoir, which collects excess run-off from the dam, he said, “I don’t know. You can ask the villagers.”

Accusing the media of “exaggerating”, he added,”The water in the reservoir is only used by picnickers for bathing and not for irrigation or any similar purpose.”

However, the Kanker Collector said the water could have been used by villagers and animals in this extreme heat. She added that no official can take such action on their own without prior permission.

The suspension order stated, “Vishwas misused his position to look for his mobile phone and without seeking permission from the competent officer evacuated water to the tune of lakhs of litre in this scorching summer season which is unacceptable. For the aforementioned act, he has been placed under suspension with immediate effect.”

A show cause notice has also been served to the SDO by the Collector. Giving verbal permission to release water without seeking permission from senior officials falls under the category of misconduct, it said. The SDO has been asked to furnish a reply within a day or face disciplinary action, it added. It is learnt that a letter has been sent to the state Secretary of the Water Resources Department (WRD) to initiate action against the SDO and Vishwas by making them pay for the water wasted by them.

#Chhattisgarh | An official was suspended for allegedly having water pumped out of a reservoir to find his mobile phone that fell into it while taking a selfie with his friends during a picnic on Sunday.

Read the full story: https://t.co/thie5hPVye pic.twitter.com/FXLDpShhfK

— The Indian Express (@IndianExpress) May 27, 2023

A senior official from the food department said, ” Vishwas was suspended in 2021 for alleged misconduct in distribution of rice. He was reinstated by the Collector after getting a clean chit.”

As the news went viral, former Chief Minister Raman Singh taunted his successor Bhupesh Baghel on Twitter. Singh tweeted, “Under the dictatorship by Dau (rich person) officials have considered the state as their own ancestral fiefdom.”

Baghel hit back saying, “The official has been suspended.”

With PTI inputs