The Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) shared a collage of two photographs on Facebook, claiming it showed a waterbody in Ward 58 before and after the clean-up drive under the 'Swachhata Se Swagat' campaign.
BOOM found that the photograph claimed to show the waterbody after the clean-up had been edited using Google AI. The civic body later issued a clarification about the image.
Cleanliness took center stage in West Bengal after Suvendu Adhikari assumed office as Chief Minister and announced the 'Swachhata Se Swagat' campaign. Ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's proposed visit, Adhikari participated in the drive alongside other state ministers.
The Claim
The Kolkata Municipal Corporation shared the collage of photographs on its official Facebook page with the caption, "Cleaning of water body near 35 Pulin Khatic Road." According to the post, the photographs were taken on June 17, 2026.
Click here to view the post and here for an archived version.
What We Found: Photo Edited Using Google AI
1. Cropped Gemini Watermark Visible: The photograph which claimed to show the cleaned waterbody, featured a cropped symbol at the bottom-right corner. The symbol matches the watermark commonly associated with pictures generated or edited using Gemini.
Gemini is Google's AI-powered assistant that allows users to generate and modify images with the help of artificial intelligence.
2. SynthID Confirms Presence Of Google AI Watermark: We then tested the image using Google's AI detection tool, SynthID. The tool detected Google's AI watermark embedded within the photograph. While invisible to the naked eye, the watermark was identified and highlighted by SynthID, as shown below.
3. KMC Issues Clarification: We also found that KMC acknowledged the mistake after facing criticism online. The civic body later shared another photograph from the same location, claiming it showed the cleaned waterbody and was taken on June 18, 2026.
