Indian official suspended for draining lake to find lost phone

Millions of liters of water were pumped over three days from the Kherkatta dam in the Indian state of Chhattisgarh after Rajesh Vishwas, a food inspector, said his Samsung mobile phone containing sensitive government data fell into the lake, according to The Guardian on May 27.

In a statement to local media, Mr. Vishwas said he contacted a subordinate official to suggest releasing “some water” from the reservoir into a nearby canal. The amount of water withdrawn from the lake, more than 2 million liters, is enough to irrigate 600 hectares of farmland .

“He (the junior official) said there was no problem if water 0.9-1.3 m deep was drained, and in fact it would benefit farmers who had more water,” Mr Vishwas said.

Kherkatta Dam after water is pumped from the reservoir

Screenshot The Guardian

Later, Priyanka Shukla, an official of Kanker district in Chhattisgarh state, said that Mr. Vishwas had been suspended from work until the investigation was completed, stressing that "water is an essential resource and cannot be wasted like this."

India is one of the most water-scarce countries in the world, home to 18% of the world's population and with only 4% of its water resources, according to The Guardian , citing data from the World Bank.

This past March was the hottest month in India since records began 122 years ago. The extreme temperatures in India have caused a lot of suffering, including deaths, crop failures, forest fires and power and water supply cuts, according to The Guardian .

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