Details about a COVID-19 facility set up in 2020 by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) in Delhi are being falsely shared claiming the Indian army has set up a 1000-bed hospital facility for COVID-19 patients in Bengaluru and Mumbai.
The Defence spokespersons in Mumbai and Bengaluru, have rubbished the message and clarified that such a facility has not been set up in the respective cities but started in Delhi by the DRDO in 2020 at the start of the pandemic and reopened in April 2021, as India faced a second wave. Read here
A Ministry Of Defence spokesperson from Bengaluru shared with us a press release with details about the COVID-19 Care Hospital opened in 2020 at the Domestic Airport, Terminal 1, Delhi which showed that the same is not in Bengaluru.
The viral messages, one attributed to Mumbai and another to Bengaluru claim that a 1000-bed facility is initiated by the Armed Forces near the airports in these cities.
The caption on the post says, "...This state-of-the-art, 1000-bed Covid Care Hospital is very close to Bangalore Domestic Airport T1...", and "..This state-of-the-art, 1000-bedded Covid Care Hospital is very close to Domestic Airport Terminal 1, Santacruz..." part of both the messages read respectively.
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FACT-CHECK
BOOM found that the viral message is fake and the COVID-19 hospital mentioned in the viral message is from Delhi and set up by the DRDO and not the Indian Army.
Additionally, on reading the viral message it states that the COVID-19 centre is located near Raksha Sampada Bhavan and a search for the same shows it is located in Delhi and not Bengaluru or Mumbai.
A June 2020 story by Times Of India reported the setting up of a 1000-bed facility in Delhi to be built by DRDO and the Tata Trust for COVID-19 patients. This facility was reopened by the DRDO as Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel Covid Hospital in Delhi's Cantonment area in view of the surge in coronavirus cases.
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on April 24, 2021, tweeted that the DRDO would be adding another 250 beds to the facility, taking the total numbers of beds to 500.
Mumbai Defence PRO and Bengaluru Defence PRO call viral message fake
PRO Defence for Mumbai rubbished the viral message in a tweet stating that it has no basis and is fake.
BOOM reached out to a spokesperson at Bengaluru Defence PRO, who also rubbished the viral message calling it fake and sent us a press release on the same.
"The message corresponds to COVID-19 Care Hospital, opened last year at Domestic Airport, Terminal 1, Delhi and is not associated with Bengaluru. The message mischievously has been copy-pasted from the last year but tweaked to mention "HAL Bangalore"," stated the press release.
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