India official fined after draining reservoir to recover phone

Picture the scene. You're on holiday and intend to go for a swim in a nearby reservoir. You pull out your phone for a selfie to make sure everyone knows you're having a lovely time, but you fumble the handset and it falls into the water. Irritating, embarrassing, and it might even cause you some serious logistical difficulties …

[Roger Greenwood]

At least he fished it out in the end....

... and made a rod for his own back

[The Oncoming Scorn]

Re: At least he fished it out in the end....

I wonder how hes going to carp with meeting the all the costs out of his own pocket.

[Danny 14]

Re: At least he fished it out in the end....

its all water under the bridge now.

[Neil Barnes]

I was in Kerala a couple of months ago

(On holiday) and a member of the cohort dropped her phone while stepping off a boat.

The local kids thought it was a great game diving to try and find it, but came up with nothing in spite of knowing exactly where it fell in about six feet of water.

[yetanotheraoc]

Re: I was in Kerala a couple of months ago

It's one price to find it, another price to bring it up.

[Howard Sway]

It is unclear whether Vishwas tried sticking it in some rice

Don't tell him that, he's already used up all the water, now he'll be requisitioning all the food too.

[John Robson]

I'd have thought that a scuba hire would be have been cheaper and more likely to be effective.

[First Light]

Not for this type of petty tyrant.

The GOI guesstimates that only 0.5% of the population can swim, and fewer are scuba divers.

So this is not a realistic solution in India, especially in inland states like this one.

[DuncanLarge]

Only 0.5% can swim?

Jesus. I may have not been swimming since I was in my teens but I'm sure able to make a decent effort to swim out of trouble.

[Anonymous Coward]

That's 0.5% of over a billion people though.

[CowHorseFrog]

How many scuba divers do you think they have in the middle of india ?

[Pascal Monett]

"accused of abusing his government position"

Fucking DUH !

I'd say only in India, but given how some of my local officials prance about, I will refrain.

[Dr Paul Taylor]

fine

He was fined about £500, which is way too little!

[that one in the corner]

Re: fine

Very true, but the article notes, he

> would also have to cover the costs for "evacuating water without permission," wasting 4.1 million liters

Now, if he is charged the going price for Harrogate[1] water from Ocado (as he will need to have it delivered...), at £1.93 per litre (note spelling) that'll be nearly £8 million, which be fairer. Oh, if only they would.

[1] For comparison, they list Fiji Artesian water at £1.98 per litre (in a box of 12; Harrogate water only comes in singles, for some reason[2]) - unless that is Fiji, Lancs.?

[2] You'll only ever want to drink one bottle of Harrogate water! If it is the Proper Stuff, it has a - certain nose!

[Throatwarbler Mangrove]

Re: fine

FTA: But yesterday the BBC reported that he had been fined 10,000 rupees ($640) and would also have to cover the costs for "evacuating water without permission," wasting 4.1 million liters (880,000 gallons) for his "personal interest."

I would be curious what the costs of evacuating 4.1M liters of water are. One would expect them to be pretty high.

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: fine

My guess is that it will be the cost for the pump not the cost of the wasted water.

[gnasher729]

Re: fine

Google tells me that southwestwater (whoever that is) had a variable charge of just under £2.00 per 1000 liters, so that would be about 8,000 pound.

[Scott 26]

This has blown up on reddit thus ensuring Vishwas' 5 minutes of internet fame live on forever

[Anonymous Coward]

Until the new API charges kick in and it goes the way of others before it.

[Anonymous Coward]

India is the new Florida Man

see title

[Anonymous Coward]

Should have spent it on an iPhone..

I've been using mobile phones for a good three decades, but I never dropped one in water until I bought an iPhone 13 a while back.

Freshly out of the box, I knock it off the sink when washing my hands after being interrupted in me setting it up by post coffee hydraulic pressure.

Of course, it falls into the freshly flushed toilet .. and it couldn't care less. It was merely making my toilet look like a backlit Japanese one until I fished it out, none the worse for wear.

It still works fine, as I'm still using it now.

[DuncanLarge]

Re: Should have spent it on an iPhone..

Is that why we have to do without 3.5mm jacks? Because people like you cant keep your phones out of the drink?

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: Should have spent it on an iPhone..

I think people "like me" are very much NOT your problem (once in 30 years is IMHO not a bad record) but yes, I think the whole waterproofing may have been part of it. That said, it's not *that* hard to make a 3.5mm socket that is watertight but I think thickness may also have been in play, which is irritating - I rather would have a mm more and thus more battery capacity..

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: Should have spent it on an iPhone..

"I rather would have a mm more and thus more battery capacity.."

Or - shocking revelation - you could use the phone less and enjoy the real world more.

I end each work day with roughly 85% battery left. To me, it's a tool used for alerts and the odd phone call when on lunch and some issue arises at work. Fourteen year old girls look at my wife, with her phone continually near her nose, and say "Damn, she's got a problem." The issue is not a lack of battery capacity. It's the inability of people to put the thing down.

If I ever do get a volcano lair, the first order of business will be massive EMP bursts to kill the cell towers and give people the gift of a life.