₹53k fine on Chhattisgarh officer for emptying reservoir over phone

It emerges that the officer drained 4.1 million litres of water from the reservoir, not 2.1 million litres as originally believed

Rajesh Kumar Vishwas, the food inspector who hit international headlines for draining an irrigation reservoir in Kanker in Chhattisgarh to retrieve a phone he dropped into the tank while trying to take a selfie during a picnic with his friends, was slapped with a fine of ₹53,092 by the state’s irrigation department.

On May 21, Vishwas’s mobile fell into the reservoir after which he drained the water for next three days to search his device. (HT Photo)

It emerges that the officer drained 4.1 million litres of water from the reservoir, not 2.1 million litres as originally believed.

On May 21, Vishwas’s mobile fell in the reservoir after which he drained the water for next three days to search his device. The matter came into light on May 26 after which he was suspended for wasting water in the peak of summer at Paralkot reservoir. The 4.1 million litres could have been used to irrigate around 40 hectares of land.

On May 26, the state’s irrigation department issued a letter stating that Vishwas drained out water using diesel pumps without seeking permission from the “competent authority”, which is illegal and comes under the category of punishment under the provision of the Chhattisgarh Irrigation Act.

“For his personal interest, Vishwas wasted 4,104 cubic metres of water (4.1 million litres) for which he has been asked to pay ₹43,092 as per the rate of ₹10.50 per cubic metre of water. A penalty of ₹10,000 has been imposed for evacuating water without seeking permission,” the letter added. HT has seen a copy of the letter signed by RL Dhivar, sub divisional officer ( water resources department).

Vishwas was unavailable for a comment on Tuesday.

On May 26, Kanker collector Priyanka Shukla sought a report into the incident and also issued a show cause notice to Dhivar for allegedly giving verbal permission to Vishwas to drain out the water from the structure.

Vishwas went to the dam with his friends on May 21 and while taking a selfie, his phone fell into the tank that stores surplus water from the dam.

He claimed that after the phone fell into the tank, he talked to the sub-divisional officer of the irrigation department who gave him permission for evacuation of water. He did manage to recover his Samsung S23 phone, acquired recently for ₹95,000 – but it wasn’t working.