Old Photo of Kolkata Slum Falsely Linked to SC Staying Haldwani Eviction
BOOM found that the photo is from a slum in Kolkata, and was taken in 2013.
An old photo of a slum overflowing on to a railway track in Kolkata is going viral linking it to the Supreme Court's recent order to stay an eviction drive in Uttarakhand's Haldwani district.
BOOM found that the claim is false, and the old photo is from Kolkata.
On December 20, 2022, the Uttarakhand HC ordered the residents of Haldwani to evacuate the area claiming that the land belonged to the railway, leading to heavy protests. However, on January 5, 2023, the Supreme court provided relief to the people by halting the demolition order and asked the state and railways to come up with a "practical solution".
Amid this, the photo of a slum purporting to be from Haldwani has been shared online to criticise the SC's decision. It shows a slum with people carrying on their everyday activities along a railway track that runs through the area.
Shared by BJP worker Priti Gandhi, the photo is captioned, "This is what the Supreme Court has legitimized today! #HaldwaniEncroachment"
We have previously fact-checked false claims shared by Priti Gandhi. Read them here.
Click here to view the tweet and here for an archive.
With more than 4,000 retweets and 14,000 likes, the post is viral on Twitter.
The photo was also shared by another BJP worker, Major Surendra Poonia with a different caption.
Click here to view the tweet and here for an archive.
The photo is also being shared on Facebook.
Click here to view.
Click here to view.
FACT-CHECK
BOOM found that the photo is from Kolkata and was taken in 2013.
A reverse image search on Google led us to an article by ABC News titled, "Richest 62 People Control Same Wealth as Poorest Half of World's Population, Report States". This article was published on January 18, 2016, and used the same viral image.
The caption of the photo reads, "People get on with their lives in a slum on the railway tracks as a commuter train goes past on Dec. 12, 2013 in Kolkata, India," and is attributed to Samir Hussein from Getty Images.
Taking a cue from this, we searched the image on Getty's website using the caption and found that the photo was published on the website on December 12, 2013. The caption also mentions that the photo is from a slum in Kolkata.
Here is a comparison of the two photos:
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