District magistrate fines himself, staff over wastage of water

How often do you hear an official imposing a fine on himself? It has happened in Uttar Pradesh's Ghaziabad district.

Ghaziabad District Magistrate Ajay Shankar Pandey imposed a fine of Rs 10,000 on himself and other staff members after he found that water was overflowing from an overhead tank of the collectorate building, his personal assistant Gaurav Singh said.

Pandey warned all the officers and the collectorate staff that such wastage of water would not be tolerated in future as water conservation is the prime need of the country, Singh said.

When the district magistrate reached his office, he heard the sound of overflowing water falling behind his retiring room, according to the personal assistant.

The entire staff was "held guilty" for the overflowing of water from the overhead tank. The fine will be shared by all the officers and staff, and would be deposited in the treasury, Singh added.