Heavy rains have been battering Kerala’s Idukki district for the past few days, causing floods and landslides in many places. Many videos and images have surfaced, showing the destruction caused by the downpour here. A new video circulating on social media shows a Maruti 800 that ended up floating, after the driver ignored warnings and tried to cross a waterlogged patch.
This mishap happened near Thookkupalam in Idukki. The clip opens by showing the flooded patch. The swelling of a nearby river or stream seems to have caused the waterlogging.
In the beginning, we see the Maruti 800 getting ready to enter the flooded patch. We can distantly hear people talking about how they tried to deter the car from doing so, and how its driver refused to yield.
The 800 drives confidently into the waterlogged patch. As it moves deeper (and farther), we see the car’s speed drop. As it reaches the deepest part of the stream, we see the 800 stop. The engine likely stalled at this point.
At around the same time, we see it do a slight nose-dive. This was likely caused by the driver slamming the brakes. The patch seems to have strong currents in it. And finally, the water column in this area was atleast knee-deep! This means that the currents here would be strong enough to get the car floating. The video clearly shows its rear lifting up and going afloat.
The vehicle soon settles down. It still has its hazard lamps turned on. The visuals would explain why the humble Maruti’s water-crossing attempt failed miserably. Look closely and you’ll see that it has its rear bumper completely submerged. At the front, the water column is almost as tall as its bonnet! It narrowly misses covering the headlamps completely! Water would have easily entered the engine.
The Maruti 800 is indeed a tiny, budget hatchback that rides on 12-inch wheels and has a ground clearance of 170mm. One should be out of their senses to attempt something like water crossing with it! The driver’s confidence in this case, was backed by sheer ignorance! It is clear from the video that he had no clue about the actual depth of the water column!
Even if you have a capable off-roader, it is critical that you should know what you are about to deal with, before actually going in. In the ideal case, people fist do a recce of the water body, measuring its depth with sticks and verifying the nature of the underlying terrain, in person.
These are then analysed and compared with the capabilities and specifications of the vehicle, before deciding if to go ahead with the crossing attempt or not. In this case, locals warned him and tried to stop him from taking the car into the flooded patch. None of these efforts, however, fructified..
The onlookers, who have been watching the entire episode, decide to step in once the vehicle has settled down. (Thankfully, it did not float away with the current!) One of them walks towards the car. People make fun of the car driver for his dumb act. The Maruti had two in it at the time of this incident. Both of them get out and walk to safety.
This video comes days after we saw flash floods in this area, sweeping away a Force Traveller. The vehicle was parked at a safe distance from the Koottar River when heavy rainfall and the subsequent partial opening of Mullaperiyar and Kallarkutty dams caused it to swell.
Water soon swept away the parked Traveller, completely destroying it. A heartbreaking video of the same went viral. Many empathized with the owner and were extremely saddened by the incident. In the case of this Maruti 800, however, none of the onlookers or netizens supported the driver, and the reason is obvious!