Viral video: Man drives car through river to beat traffic jam

A man found an ingenious way to beat traffic jams in Himachal Pradesh as the hill stations in the state welcomed a huge number of tourists for Christmas and New Year celebrations. The video is going viral on social media.

In a viral video, the tourist was seen driving a Mahindra Thar SUV through the Chandra river in Lahaul Valley to beat the traffic jams. Fortunately, the water level in the river wasn’t much as otherwise the drive could have turned fatal.

The video, which has been widely shared on social media, has drawn criticism from the locals.

#WATCH | Himachal Pradesh: Challan issued after a video of driving a Thar in Chandra River of Lahaul and Spiti went viral on social media.

SP Mayank Chaudhry said, “Recently, a video went viral in which a Thar is crossing the river Chandra in District Lahaul Spiti. The said… pic.twitter.com/V0a4J1sgxv

— ANI (@ANI) December 25, 2023

The police have issued a challan to the driver of the SUV. “Recently, a video went viral in which a Thar is crossing the river Chandra in District Lahaul Spiti. The said vehicle has been challenged under the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988 and to ensure that no one commits such an offence in the future, the district police have deployed police personnel at the said place,” said SP Mayank Chaudhry.

There was a huge traffic jam at many places on the Lahaul to Manali route last evening when the tourist drove his car into the river.

About 55,000 vehicles crossed the Atal tunnel in Rohtang – that joins Kullu, Lahaul and Spiti – in the past three days, officials said. Several videos have surfaced on social media showing a long queue of vehicles on roads.