‘Mission Mobile Khojo’: CG Officer Suspended for Pumping Lakhs of Water to Fish Out Lost Phone

Chhattisgarh: Wondered how precious a cell phone can be for one! In a bizarre incident, a CG officer pumped out millions of gallons of water meant for parched fields from a dam to recover his phone that slipped in it. In an apparently ‘mission mobile khojo’ which went on for three days, a dam was emptied to recover a lost mobile phone.

Rajesh Vishwas, a food officer in Kollibeda block of Kanker district in view of the alleged act of retrieving his Rs 1 lakh phone was suspended. Following the order, he was quick to clarify, though, saying the water was “unusable” and he got prior verbal permission from the local Sub-divisional officer. A suspension order was issued by the District collector as the matter surfaced. He was suspended for misusing his position and not taking permission from the concerned official.

Rajesh on Sunday went to the Kherkatta Dam to enjoy his holiday and somehow his phone fell into the 15 feet deep reservoir. Panicked Rajesh approached the Irrigation department and sought ways to extract his phone. At first, locals dived in to locate the phone, but after the failure of physical extraction, the officer engaged a 30 hp diesel pump to discharge the water that could irrigate 1500 acres of farmland.

The pumps started draining the water on Monday evening and continued to run till Thursday draining some 21lakh litres of water. Subsequently, the pump was stopped after an officer from the Irrigation and water resource department reached the spot. The water level by then dropped by 10 feet. Authorities at present are evaluating the impact on irrigation and considering measures to compensate for the water lost at a time the central region is witnessing blistering heat.

Though Rajesh recovered his phone, it was no longer in working condition. Wasn’t it a forgone conclusion, that mobile phones do not survive in water after being submerged for a longer duration Had Rajesh battled his emotions and acted smartly the misery of farmers would have been averted.