Waterlogged, ‘kachcha’ road seen in front of a building of Dept. of Roads in India? Fact Check

A photo depicting waterlogged road is doing the rounds on social media with a claim that it was the scene at a building of the “Department of Roads”.

பாஜகவின் சாதனைகளில் இதுவும் ஒன்று….

“Department of Roads” “சாலை போக்குவரத்து துறை”ஒட்டிய சாலைக்கே சாலை அமைக்க வக்கில்லை 💦💦💦 pic.twitter.com/53ECsR62jt

— ஶ்ரீ தேவி ரஞ்சன் குமார் (@Shree_Rk0803) March 7, 2024

The tweet in Tamil translates into English as: “This is one of the achievements of BJP. ‘Department of Roads’ has no right to construct a road adjacent to ‘Road Transport Department’.”

When we searched further, we found that it was shared by several users on Twitter since March 3, 2024 as seen below:

Department of roads 😅 pic.twitter.com/5vb08JwLou

— Rakesh Laroia (@r_laroia) March 4, 2024

Another user shared the same with a cpation that reads: “Department of roads. It happens only in India.”

सडक विभाग हजुर! दबाब यात्रा यता पो गर्ने की! नजिकै 😂🫢 pic.twitter.com/4hP4URpwK6

— Deependra (DC) (@deependradc) March 3, 2024

Some users of X (formerly Twitter) have shared it tagging Indian Minister Nithin Gadkari of Union Road Transport and Highways as well.

FACT-CHECK

The Digiteye India team took it up for fact-checking. First, we checked for the logo of the Indian Transport ministry’s logo and found that the logo on the building was different.

Secondly, when we checked the image on Google Reverse Image Search, we found that the picture was also used in a March 4 report on the Nepali news website “Bizness News”.

Further search on X revealed that the same image was shared a day before by an X user Deependra Chaulagai, re-tweeted on March 4, 2024, a press release by the Kathmandu Road Division in Nepal. Its translation states that the building was briefly unused following the Nepal earthquake in 2015 and its renovation remains to be undertaken though it’s being used by the department of roads again.

Hence, the photo shows the Road Department compound in Kathmandu, pending repairs amid heavy rains, and not from India as claimed.

Claim: Waterlogged road in front of building of ‘Dept. of Roads’ shared, tagging Indian Union Transport Minister Nithin Gadkari.

Conclusion: False. Both the building and waterlogged road are in Nepal, not in India.

Rating: Misrepresentation —