Fact Check: Old Image Of Flooded Chennai Airport Going Viral With False Claims

New Delhi (Vishvas News): Due to heavy rainfall in several parts of the country, there has been a significant loss of both life and property. Many states are facing flood-like situations due to the incessant rain. Excessive rainfall in various districts of Gujarat has resulted in extensive damage. Amid these events, a photo depicting waterlogging at an airport has been rapidly circulating on social media. The photo shows several aeroplanes surrounded by water. Some users are now asserting that this picture was taken at Ahmedabad airport in Gujarat, portraying it as a recent occurrence and using it to criticise the government.

However, an investigation by Vishvas News has revealed that the viral picture has no ties to Gujarat. The image being shared on social media is an older photograph from Chennai airport. Users are spreading misinformation by falsely asserting that the image originates from Gujarat and using it to criticise the government.

What’s Going Viral?

On August 2, 2023, the Facebook page (archive link) ‘Smart India’ shared the viral image along with the caption, “#Gujarat_model Ahmedabad airport turns into a port. Why is this disappearing from the eyes of the #media?” Several other users also shared the image with similar claims.

Vishvas News Investigation:

To verify the authenticity of the viral image, we conducted a reverse image search on Google and found this picture on multiple websites dating back to an earlier period. During our search, we found a picture resembling the viral image in a news article published on December 5, 2015, on the Zee News website. The information provided there confirms that the viral picture is actually from Chennai airport.

Further research led us to a news article on the Scroll website. This article, published on July 28, 2017, reported, “The Press Trust of India (PTI) has issued a clarification and dismissed a photographer who mistakenly uploaded a picture of the Chennai airport floods from December 2015 as Ahmedabad airport.”

Numerous prominent media outlets also wrongly published this image, claiming it to be from Ahmedabad. Following this incident, Smriti Irani, the Minister of Information and Broadcasting, expressed her displeasure with the PTI’s post on Twitter. Subsequently, the PTI apologised and terminated the services of the responsible photographer.

This image has been circulating on social media for several years. In 2017, it was shared as a picture of Chandigarh airport. This history highlights that the viral picture, which is now being presented as a recent image of Ahmedabad airport in Gujarat, is in fact an older photo from Chennai.

We reached out to Jeevan Kapuria, Associate Editor at Gujarati Jagran, regarding the viral picture. We shared the image with him, and he confirmed that it is not from Ahmedabad Airport. He informed us that this picture previously went viral in the Gujarat context, but it has no connection to Gujarat whatsoever.

Finally, we scrutinised the page that had shared the old Chennai picture as being from Gujarat. We discovered that this page has over 5,000 followers and was created on November 25, 2017.