Chattisgarh official pumps out water from dam for 3 days to recover his lost phone

Rajesh Vishwas dropped his Samsung S23 phone, worth Rs 96,000, into the 15-foot-deep water

Is a cell phone more precious than millions of liters of water? Well, surely for Rajesh Vishwas, a food inspector of Koyalibeda block in Chhattisgarh, who pumped out millions of gallons of water, meant for parched fields, after he dropped his mobile in the dam.

Reportedly, Rajesh Vishwas visited the Kherkatta Paralkot reservoir to enjoy his day off on Sunday.

But his Sunday turned into a nightmare after he dropped his Samsung S23 phone, worth Rs 96,000, into the 15-foot-deep water.

Following which, a panicked Vishwas reached out to the irrigation department and discussed ways to retrieve his submerged phone.

After much discussion, the irrigation department deployed a 30-horsepower pump to drain the reservoir’s water, resulting in the discharge of the stored water used for irrigation purposes.

What’s more shocking is that 21 lakh liters of water were drained out in a day. Still unable to find the phone, the search for the phone continued for three days.

Nearly 41,104 cubic meters of water were drained out to recover Rajesh’s lost phone. Sounds crazy, right?

Too much relief for Rajesh, the phone was finally recovered after three days; however, the phone was no longer in working condition, and the water level in the dam has also dropped by 10 feet.

It may be mentioned that Vishwas was suspended on Friday.

What did the officer say in his defense?

This action of the government official has raised serious questions, to which Rajesh Vishwas, in his defense, said that the water pumped out was “wastewater unfit for irrigation”.

Further in his defense, Rajesh said that he had important contacts on the phone, which is why he took the step.

“A verbal permission was given by the Kanker irrigation department SDO to empty 3–4 feet of water. It was part of the dam where waste water was kept, which was unfit for irrigation. The water was emptied with a diesel pump, and the action cost Rs 7,000–8,000. No farmer was affected by my action,” said Vishwas.

HOW BADLY THE DAM HAS BEEN IMPACTED?

Sadly, Rajesh’s plan failed terribly. The water level of the dam has now been reduced by more than 10 feet.

According to Ram Lal Dhivar, the Deputy Officer of the Water Resources Department, verbal permission had been granted to drain the water up to a depth of five feet; however, the water level has been reduced by more than 10 feet thus far.

The authorities are evaluating the impact on irrigation and considering measures to compensate for the lost water.

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