A superintendent engineer from Odisha has demanded the government cut money from a Chhattisgarh officer's salary after the officer had drained a reservoir to retrieve his lost phone in the Kherkatta Dam, Chhattisgarh.
Noting the importance of the water for irrigation purposes in the region, the superintendent engineer from Odisha wrote to the Sub Divisional Officer RK Dhivar on May 26, demanding the officer, Rajesh Vishwas, be held responsible for compensation. The engineer asked why the water cost should not be deducted from Vishwas’ salary, NDTV reported.
Rajesh Vishwas was on holiday near the Kherkatta Dam when he dropped his phone in the reservoir. Locals jumped into the water in search but could not find the device.
“I went to the dam on Sunday with a few friends to take a bath there on my off day. My phone slipped into the overflow tankers, whose water is not usable. It was 10 feet deep. Locals tried to find it but failed,” Vishwas said.
After failed attempts, Vishwas reached out to his superior for permission to drain the water. Despite being told draining was advisable for only 3-4 feet deep water, the officer had the water drained. Nearly 21 lakh litres of water were drained in the process.
“They told me they can surely find it if the water was two-three feet shallower. I called the SDO and requested him to allow me to drain some water into the nearby canal if there was no problem in doing so. He said it was not an issue if three-four feet deep water was drained and would in fact benefit the farmers who would have more water. That's why I got help from locals to drain around three feet of water and got my phone back," he said.
In his defence, Vishwas claimed that he was persistent in retrieving the smartphone as it stored “official data”.