Official suspended after ordering reservoir to be drained when he dropped his phone

India is one of the most water-stressed countries on the planet. Extreme temperatures have led to severe water scarcity, causing crop losses, forest fires and cuts to power.

Food inspector Rajesh Vishwas gets dam drained after phone fell in

A government official who ordered a reservoir to be drained just so he could retrieve his £970 ($1,200) smartphone after dropping it while taking a selfie has been suspended. Food inspector Rajesh Vishwas dropped his smartphone in Kherkatta Dam in the central Indian state of Chhattisgarh last week, The Times of newspaper reported. He first asked divers to search for the device, claiming it contained sensitive government data, but when their efforts failed, he asked for the reservoir to be emptied using diesel pumps.

Authorities suspended Mr Vishwas after he was widely criticised for wasting water resources.

Priyanka Shukla, a Kanker district official, told The National newspaper: “He has been suspended until an inquiry. Water is an essential resource and it cannot be wasted like this.”

But the official has denied that the draining was a misuse of his position and said that the lost water was in the overflow section of the dam and therefore “not in usable condition”. 

But he has been condemned by politicians. The state's opposition party BJP national vice president said: “When people are depending upon tankers for water facility in scorching summers, the officer has drained 41 lakh litres which could have been used for irrigation purposes for 1,500 acres of land.”

Over three days, more than two million litres of water (440,000 gallons) were pumped from the reservoir, enough to irrigate at least 1,500 acres of land during India's scorching summer, local media reported.

Mr Vishwas told reporters the water was unusable for irrigation and he had received permission from a senior official to drain it.

The waterlogged smartphone would not start when it was found.

In videos that went viral on social media, Mr Vishwas is seen sitting under a red umbrella as diesel pumps run to drain water from the reservoir.

READ MORE: Dramatic moment phone catches fire in man's pocket - but still works afterwards [REVEAL] 

In a statement to Indian media, Mr Vishwas said he had verbal permission from a senior official to drain “some water into a nearby canal”. 

He added that the official said it “would in fact benefit the farmers, who would have more water”.

India is one of the most challenged countries in the world concerning availability of water. 

It has 18 percent of the world's population but only 4 percent of its water resources, which causes severe water stress.

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