Old photos of bus submerged under Delhi's Minto Bridge shared as recent - Alt News
Priyanka Jha
16th July 2021 / 3:26 pm / Last updated: 16th July 2021
On July 13, a Twitter user posted a photo of Delhi’s Minto Bridge underpass. The image featured a DTC bus completely submerged under rainwater. The Chattisgarh Congress Twitter handle quote-tweeted the post and wrote that ‘Sangh’s allies’ have transformed Delhi into Goa.
अब “दिल्ली” ही “गोवा” बना दी है संघ के छोटे रिचार्ज ने pic.twitter.com/X6LColCDqH
— INC Chhattisgarh (@INCChhattisgarh) July 14, 2021
Varun Puri of the BJP also shared the picture. The accompanying caption read, “Now Delhi’s Ad Man Kejriwal is offering a new underwater bus service”. (Archive link)
FREE underwater Bus service facility initiated by Delhi Ke Malik #AdManKejriwal pic.twitter.com/UqT5KiKlCe
— Varun Puri (@varunpuri1984) July 14, 2021
Former diplomat KC Singh retweeted a similar post and remarked that such visuals were a regular sight every monsoon season. (Archive link)
Surprising thing is it happens almost every year. How, has never been clear to me. Drivers ain’t new nor bridge & depth unknown. Human stupidity is the only answer. https://t.co/UOwJgkLDfy
— K. C. Singh (@ambkcsingh) July 13, 2021
In a now-deleted tweet, Vaishali Poddar of the Bhartiya Janata Yuva Morcha also shared the photo, adding that the monsoon season had officially arrived in Delhi. An archived version of the post can be found here. This image has also been circulating on Facebook.
BJP Delhi spokesperson Gaurav Goyal shared a different picture of a submerged bus and wrote, “Submarines in Delhi.”
Submarines of Delhi. #AdManKejriwal pic.twitter.com/bZnxdYhs64
— Gaurav Goel (@goelgauravbjp) July 14, 2021
First image
A reverse image search of this photo led Alt News to several news reports from 2020. It was carried by The New Indian Express in a story dated July 24, 2020, where it is described as the Minto Bridge underpass.
Several photos of this bridge taken from different angles were shared by a number of Indian media outlets in July 2020. Various videos of the Minto Bridge featuring similar visuals were also being shared online.
#WATCH Delhi: A bus got stuck in a waterlogged road under Minto Bridge following heavy rainfall in the national capital this morning. pic.twitter.com/OhwpyIU2Sz
— ANI (@ANI) July 19, 2020
Second image
A reverse image search of the second photo revealed that it had originally been taken in 2018. The Deccan Herald had published this snapshot of the Minto Bridge in a July 2018 story.
No waterlogging has been observed thus far around the Minto Road area this year. On July 13, 2021, ANI posted a video reporting that the capital had been receiving rainfall since morning and the traffic situation on Minto Road was as per usual.
#WATCH | Minto Road area witnesses a smooth flow of traffic.
The national capital, Delhi has been receiving rainfall since morning. pic.twitter.com/q59e66eW9e
— ANI (@ANI) July 13, 2021
On July 14, Aam Aadmi Party leader Atishi shared a video of the Minto Bridge on Twitter and said that despite heavy rains since morning, no waterlogging had been reported and traffic was moving smoothly.
Despite heavy rainfall since morning, there’s no water logging at #MintoBridge this time and traffic is moving smoothly.
Maybe its time that our opposition stops circulating old photos of Minto Bridge 😊 pic.twitter.com/WKe8XPNl0X
— Atishi (@AtishiAAP) July 14, 2021
Aaj Tak also posted a video on the afternoon of July 14, where the area was described as free from waterlogging.
दिल्ली: जलभराव मुक्त नज़र आया मिंटो ब्रिज। देखें तेज़ बारिश के बाद मिंटो ब्रिज का हाल।
रिपोर्ट: @PankajJainClick
अन्य #ReporterDiary के लिए क्लिक करें: https://t.co/mf6keLW7vJ pic.twitter.com/swhxibFC0f
— AajTak (@aajtak) July 14, 2021
Ultimately, old photos of the Minto Bridge underpass was falsely shared as recent.
She specializes in information verification, examining mis/disinformation, social media monitoring and platform accountability. Her aim is to make the internet a safer place and enable people to become informed social media users. She has been a part of Alt News since 2018.
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