Photo of Damaged Road in Front of 'Department of Roads' Is From Nepal, Not India

The photograph was taken in February this year and authorities stated that the 'upgradation work' was going on.

Fact-check: An image of a damaged road in Nepal is being falsely shared as one from India.

(Photo: Altered by The Quint)

A photo showing a damaged road leading to the building of 'Department of Roads' is going viral social media to claim that this image is from India.

Users sharing the claim are pointing out the irony behind the scenario.

An archive can be seen here.

(source: X/screenshot)

(Similar archives can be seen here and here.)

What's the truth?: The road in the viral image is from Kathmandu, Nepal and it is not related to India.

How did we find out the truth?: We noticed the Nepali number plate of the vehicle seen in the photo.

• We performed a relevant keyword search along with the reverse image search on the viral photo and came across an article shared on a Nepali news portal named Bizness News.

• The report was published on 4 March and carried the same viral image.

• It stated that the image was first shared by an X (formerly Twitter) user called Deependra Chaulagai on 3 March, who mentioned that this image was taken near the Department of Roads, Nepal.

• Another Nepali article shared by Ratopati carried a different image of the same damaged road.

Article was shared 2080 according to the Nepali calendar but it is 2024 as the regular year.

(Source: Ratopati/screenshot)

We also found images on Google maps that matched the building and the logo on the board.

(Source: Altered by The Quint)

The logo also matched the one shown on the official website of Nepal's Department of Roads.

(Source: Altered by The Quint)

We reached out to a local reporter: We spoke to Gaurav Pokharel, Kathmandu based journalist, who confirmed to us that this photo is from Nepal.

• "This photo is from 24 February and shows a road near Department of Roads' building in Kathmandu," he added.

• He also sent a press release shared by the Department of Roads after this image went viral.

• It states that upgrading the road was not included in a certain contract which was "dilapidated due to the earthquake" and the matter got worse due to heavy rains.

Press Release shared by Nepal's Department of Roads translated by Google.

(Source: Department of Roads Nepal/Gaurav Dai)

Conclusion: An image of a damaged road in Nepal is being falsely shared as one from India.

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