The tank emptying controversy that began last year has not gone away, but at least in this case the controversy is whether it is an appropriate measure for the electricity production or abuse of power companies. In India, the controversy is very different from what is happening in Europe, and it is a scandal of a more personal nature: emptying a tank for the sole purpose of recovering a lost mobile.
The events took place in the middle of the month in the state of Chhattisgarh, when an official organized a real search and capture operation involving residents of a neighboring town and finally, the loss of a large part of the stored water. And everything to get his new Samsung S23 Ultra, which had cost him 95,000 rupees, the equivalent of 1,070 dollars.
The case has gone viral, not only in India but across the world, although it is unclear at this time if this is a bizarre example of Corruptionor if no one simply knew how to say no at the right time.
An empty tank for a mobile
The scandal happened on May 21, when Rajesh Vishwas, 32, was visiting the Par alkot reserve with friends; it was a leisure visit, not a job as part of his job as health inspector, but Vishwas did not hesitate to use this power when he dropped his laptop in the water tank
It all started relatively innocently, when some locals with swimming experience offered to fetch the cell phone directly while swimming in the small reservoir, as it was only 3 meters deep and Vishaws was an acquaintance in the area; however, after a weekend of searching, they could not find it. Anyone else would have cursed their luck and found a replacement phone, but not Vishwas, who I had bought the mobile just two months before
As Vishwas stated at Indian Express, The idea of emptying the tank was not his, but that of the aforementioned neighbors; he claims he tried to reason that the phone would be too damaged now, but they “insisted” that they wanted to find the device for him. Therefore, using his authority, Vishwas called the water resources department division to request the emptying of the reservoir, which was approved as he said it was “only a few meters deep”. Interestingly, due to the nature of this tank, Vishwas had to go in person with a diesel extractor and empty the water over a period of two days.
Although the official had plenty of time to think about what he was doing, he ended up emptying almost the entire reserve. At least he found his motive, though was “damaged”, did not specify if it still works (something would be good publicity for Samsung). He also does not know how much water was lost in this way, stating only that such a question should be asked of the inhabitants of the region.
Vishwas only explained his version of events when news of the emptying reached the media and social media in India; He believes this is an “exaggeration” and that the water stored in this reserve was only used by camping enthusiasts in the area and not for irrigated crops. The explanation did not convince his superiors, who the official was suspended for abusing his authority and not seeking permission from the competent authorities. They believe that the reserve was more important than what Vishwas claims, especially in the high temperatures that the country experiences, both for the animals and for the inhabitants of the neighboring communities.
You may be interested
Follow the topics that interest you