News 28 May 2023
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Author: GRM DAILY

Government official drains entire reservoir to retrieve his iPhone

Author GRM DAILY
28 May 2023
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A government official in India has been suspended after he ordered an entire dam to be drained to retrieve his iPhone.

Food inspector Rajesh Vishwas was taking a selfie in the central Indian state of Chhattisgarh when he dropped his phone in Kherkatta dam.

After local divers failed to find his phone, which he claimed contained sensitive government data, Mr Vishwas paid for a diesel pump to be brought in to empty the reservoir. The pump continued to run for three days until it drained out 2 million litres (440,000 gallons) of water.

The mission to find Mr Vishwas’ phone was put to an end when another official, from the irrigation and water resource department, arrived following a complaint.

The phone was eventually found but it was too water-logged to use.

“Misusing his position, he [Vishwas] wasted lakhs of litres of water during the season of intense heat,” Priyanka Shukla, a Kanker district official, told The National newspaper. “This is an unacceptable behaviour that cannot be condoned.”

“He has been suspended until an inquiry. Water is an essential resource and it cannot be wasted like this”.

[Image: Austris Antons via Shutterstock]