The Chhattisgarh government has fined Rs 53,000 an officer who drained out 41 lakh litres of water from a weir in Kanker district to retrieve his mobile phone, it was announced on Tuesday.
The Water Resource Department (WRD) imposed a fine of Rs 53,092 on Rajesh Vishwas, who was a food officer in Pakhanjore in Kanker district.
Vishwas was charged with draining out the water using a diesel pump without permission after his phone fell into the weir on May 21.
The officer was fined Rs 43,092 at the rate of Rs 10.50 per cubic meter besides a penalty of Rs 10,000 for wasting water from the weir, the department said.
The Kanker Collector suspended him after the incident came to light on May 26.
