Web Desk
Rajesh Vishwas, a government official in India, has been suspended after emptying a dam in an attempt to retrieve his phone that had fallen into the water. The incident, which sparked social media outrage, occurred at the Kherkatta Dam in the state of Chhattisgarh. Vishwas, with verbal approval from a senior official, ordered the draining of the reservoir without considering the consequences.
The process of pumping millions of liters of water out of the dam took three days, but unfortunately, the phone was found to be too waterlogged to function properly. Vishwas claimed that the phone contained sensitive government data that needed to be recovered, but he is now facing accusations of misusing his position as a government official.
Initially, local divers were unable to locate the phone, prompting Vishwas to hire a diesel pump to drain the water from the dam. He justified his actions by stating that the diverted water would benefit local farmers by providing additional irrigation. Approximately two million liters of water were emptied from the dam, which could have been used to irrigate a significant area of farmland.
Vishwas’s actions were halted when another official from the water resource department responded to a complaint. Following the incident, he was suspended pending an inquiry. Priyanka Shukla, a district official, expressed concern over the wastage of water, highlighting its importance as a vital resource.
Criticism has been directed at Vishwas, including from politicians who raised concerns about water scarcity during the summer months. One tweet from a national vice president of the opposition BJP party in the state pointed out that the drained 4.1 million liters of water could have been used for irrigation purposes, benefiting 1,500 acres of land.
