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Indian official suspended for draining entire dam to find lost phone

Rajesh Vishwas, a food inspector, claimed that the phone contained sensitive official data and needed to be retrieved.

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Three days of pumping emptied out about two million litres of water from Kherkatta Dam situated in central India.

A government official in India has been suspended after he issued an order to drain an entire dam to recover his lost mobile phone, according to a BBC report.

The effort did help retrieve his phone but it was too water-logged to function, the report said on Friday.

Rajesh Vishwas claimed that the phone held sensitive official data and it was utterly important for it to be found. However, his action drew criticism with the accusation that he misused his official position.

The food inspector was enjoying a vacation at the scenic Kherkatta Dam situated in central India. As fate would have it, his Samsung phone slipped from his grip while attempting to capture a selfie and plunged into the watery depths.

Filled with desperation, Vishwas immediately called local divers in a desperate attempt to retrieve his phone. However, their valiant efforts proved fruitless, leaving the distraught official to ponder an unconventional solution.

In #Chhattisgarh, an officer's I-phone fell into a dam reservoir. Two pumps of 30 horsepower, ran 24 hrs, and pumped out-hold your breath- 21 lakh litres of #water, this water could have irrigated 1,500 acres of land, & this is when "there is severe shortage of water i the area ! pic.twitter.com/vBSol7EafS
— Ramandeep Singh Mann (@ramanmann1974) May 26, 2023

He arranged for the deployment of two powerful pumps that operated for three days.

The pumps emptied out about two million litres of water from the reservoir, a quantity ample enough to provide irrigation for approximately 600 hectares of farmland.

Only upon receiving a complaint and subsequent visit from an official representing the irrigation and water resource department did Vishwas reluctantly halt his extraordinary operation.

Priyanka Shukla, a Kanker district official announced his suspension to The National newspaper and said that "he has been suspended until an inquiry. Water is an essential resource and it cannot be wasted like this".