Congress’ General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra tweeted two images of floods on Sunday, 19 July, to highlight the ongoing crisis in Assam, Bihar, and Uttar Pradesh. However, the images in the tweet are from 2019 and 2017.
CLAIM
In the now deleted tweet, Gandhi wrote “असम, बिहार और यूपी के कई क्षेत्रों में आई बाढ़ से जनजीवन अस्त व्यस्त है। लाखों लोगों पर संकट के बादल छाए हुए हैं। बाढ़ से प्रभावित लोगों की मदद के लिए हम तत्पर हैं। मैं कांग्रेस कार्यकर्ताओं व नेताओं से अपील करती हूं कि प्रभावित लोगों की मदद करने का हर संभव प्रयास करें।”
When translated to English, the message reads, “Floods in many areas of Assam, Bihar and UP have disrupted life. Crisis clouds over millions of people. We look forward to help the people affected by the flood. I appeal to Congress workers and leaders to do everything possible to help the affected people.”
She also attached two images with the tweet, which showed submerged houses and a man caught in the heavy flooding.
Several Twitter users have shared the same images as pictures of the ongoing flood situation in Assam.
A recent news report by DD News also used the same pictures in the context of the ongoing floods. Similarly, other news outlets such as News18 Gujarati and Prabhat Khabhar Digital have used the photos in recent reports.
WHAT WE FOUND OUT
The images shared by Gandhi are old and not from the ongoing flood crisis.
IMAGE 1
A simple reverse search reveals that the first image is a PTI photo from Assam’s Morigaon's district when it was submerged in 2019. The image can be found in news reports from last year.
IMAGE 2
The reverse search of the second image also revealed that it's a PTI photo from the Araria district of Bihar, when it was flooded in 2017. The image also appeared in several news reports in 2017.
It must be noted that though the floods in Assam and Bihar have led to a loss of lives and property, the images used are not recent.
The Bihar disaster management department website reports that at least 3 lakh people have been affected by floods in the state. According to ANI, in Assam over 85 people have died and the lives of over 70 lakh people have been affected due to floods. At least 108 animals have reportedly died due to heavy flooding in the Kaziranaga National Park.
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