Chhattisgarh: Phone dropped in water while taking selfie, the officer emptied the reservoir, extracted millions of liters of water in two days
A senior Food Department official said that Rajesh Vishwas was suspended in 2021 on charges of irregularities in rice distribution. He was reinstated after getting a clean chit from the collector.
When the phone of a government officer of Chhattisgarh fell in the reservoir, the water of the entire reservoir was emptied. Selfies proved costly for a government official who was suspended on Friday after water was drawn from a Chhattisgarh reservoir over two days in search of his new phone.
Expensive phone dropped in water while taking selfie
Rajesh Biswas, food officer of Koylibeda block, had gone with his friends to celebrate a party near Paralkot reservoir in Pankhajoor, but while taking a selfie, his expensive phone fell into the water. They emptied the entire reservoir to get him out. At the same time, now the food officer has been suspended from his post in this matter. Confirming his suspension, Kanker Collector Priyanka Shukla said, “The officer had no authority to draw water, so he has been suspended.”
Food officer Rajesh Biswas, 32, is posted in Pakhanjur town of Kanker district. He had a Samsung S23 Ultra phone worth Rs 95,000. On May 21, Vishwas had gone for a picnic with friends at Paralkot reservoir. He dropped his phone in a 10 feet deep water body while taking a selfie.
Three feet of water removed from the reservoir in two days
Rajesh Biswas told The Indian Express, “Since I am a local, some villagers who know how to swim came to find my phone. They kept searching for it for two days. When they failed to locate it by Tuesday, he suggested draining some of the water. I said the phone would be damaged by then. But the local people insisted that they would find it for me.
The SDO of the Water Resources Department had given oral permission
Stating that he had bought the phone two months ago and was extremely upset after it was dropped in the reservoir, Vishwas said, “I called the sub-divisional officer (SDO) of the water resources department, who gave oral permission as it was just a few There was feet of water. On Tuesday night, I hired a diesel pump for Rs 7,500 and over a period of two days pumped out about three feet of water from the reservoir.”
Asked how much water was taken out of the reservoir in total, he said, “I don’t know. You can ask the villagers.” After which the phone found in damaged condition was handed over to Vishwas. Accusing the media of exaggerating things, the officer said, “The water in the reservoir is used only for bathing by picnickers and not for irrigation or any other purpose.”
officer suspended with immediate effect
However, the Kanker collector said that the water could be used by the villagers and animals in this extreme heat. He said that no officer can take such action without prior permission.
The suspension order states, “Vishvas misused his position to search his mobile phone and without permission from the competent authority drew lakhs of liters of water in this scorching summer season which is unacceptable. For which he has been suspended with immediate effect.
Show cause notice to SDO
A show cause notice has also been issued by the Collector to the SDO. It states that giving verbal permission to draw water without the permission of senior officers comes under the category of malpractice. The SDO has been asked to respond within a day or face disciplinary action. Also, a letter has been sent to the State Secretary of the Water Resources Department asking the SDO and Vishwas to take action against paying for the water wasted by them.
(Story by Jayprakash S Naidu)
