Bikes swept away, cars damaged by rainwater at Jaswan Dehrian

A sudden breach in an embankment near an under-construction bridge at Maslana village under Rajpur Jaswan panchayat on the Kangra-Una border caused severe damage to dozens of vehicles on Sunday. Fortunately, no casualties or injuries were reported. According to local sources, construction work was ongoing on a culvert along the Rajpur Jaswan-Ghagoh link road. Due to heavy rainfall on Saturday evening, a huge quantity of rainwater collected near the construction site, forming a temporary water body.

On Sunday, a religious event at a local temple dedicated to the village’s kuldevi (family deity) attracted a large number of devotees from the nearby areas. Many attendees parked their private vehicles ahead of the embankment near which water had accumulated.

Suddenly, the embankment gave way, and the water surged toward parked vehicles. Several motorcycles were swept away, while cars were pushed into each other by the strong water flow, leading to significant damage.

The incident caused panic among the crowd, with people rushing to save their vehicles. A number of vehicles were later retrieved using cranes and tractors. Some vehicles were carried over 100 metre by the force of the water, while others got stuck in mud.

According to Akash Jaswal, an eyewitness, it was a clear day with a bright sunshine and all of a sudden a gush of water created a flood like situation, difficult to understand as there was no speck of cloud.

Up pradhan of the local panchayat, Anil Kumar, confirmed that some vehicles were badly damaged, but expressed relief that a major disaster was averted. SHO Anil Upadhyay said while many vehicles were damaged, no loss of life or serious injury occurred. The authorities are now assessing the damage and taking steps to ensure that such incidents are prevented in the future.

Himachal Tribune