Old videos disseminated as crocodiles caught recently in Himachal Pradesh rainfall.
Claim
Rating
Explanation
Himachal Pradesh witnessed 200% excess rainfall in the first 10 days of July which resulted in submerging multiple buildings and temples and collapsing bridges. A red alert was issued and more than 30 people were killed in the calamity.
Crocodiles on the streets of ambala due to flooding. I hope poonjabese aunties don’t mistake it for a Lacoste mascot.pic.twitter.com/CNiWdpULQd
— Abhijit Iyer-Mitra (@Iyervval) July 11, 2023
Crocodile now found in residential area of #Kharar.#Heavyrainfall #HimachalFloods pic.twitter.com/cELeSJxdVa
— Prateek Pratap Singh (@PrateekPratap5) July 10, 2023
Meanwhile, a couple of videos of crocodiles being caught in the residential area are shared to claim that they are from the recent rainfall in Himachal Pradesh and Punjab. Some of the videos with such a claim can be seen here and here. Zee News also shared one of the viral videos claiming to be from streets of Ambala.
What is the truth?
The keyframes of the viral videos are reverse-searched and we also performed keyword searches in search of the video source. And we found that both videos are old and are not from recent rainfall in Himachal Pradesh or Punjab.
Video 1
The viral video of a crocodile moving in a water-flooded street, captured from a roof of a building is found tweeted by ViralVdoz Twitter page in August 2022. The video is captioned “Madhya Pradesh: Crocodile enters residential colony amid heavy rains in Shivpuri, rescued”.
https://t.co/OzckR639WV#Watch: #Video Madhya Pradesh: Crocodile enters residential colony amid heavy rains in Shivpuri, rescued#MadhyaPradesh #Crocodile #enters #residential #colony #heavyrains #Shivpuri, #rescued #viralvdoz #Viral #Video #India #Breaking pic.twitter.com/lut0YLKAng
— ViralVdoz (@viralvdoz) August 14, 2022
ETV Bharat Youtube channel uploaded the viral video in August 2022 mentioning that a crocodile that enters a residential colony in Shivpuri, Madhya Pradesh was rescued. The description part reads “A crocodile wandered into a residential colony in Madhya Pradesh’s Shivpuri district on Sunday and was captured after an hour-long operation, an official said.”
It is further stated “The reptile was spotted in a colony near the old bus stand in the early hours of the day, following which the authorities were informed, sub-divisional officer of police (SDOP) Ajay Bhargava said. A rescue team from Madhav National Park was called in and the crocodile was captured after an hour-long effort, he said, adding that the eight-foot-long reptile was later released in Sankhya Sagar Lake.”
Video 2
This video of a crocodile chasing two people in a residential area is found tweeted by Journalist Nellutla Kavitha in 2020 mentioning that the video was from the 2019 Vadodara rains.
This video is being circulated saying crocodile on the streets of #Hyderabad, but NO it’s from Vadodara n last year video. NOT because of #HyderabadRains pic.twitter.com/cJSTrOsu2X
— Nellutla Kavitha (@iamKavithaRao) October 14, 2020
NDTV Youtube video is found with matching visuals from the viral video. The video dated August 2019 reported that the video is of a crocodile from a flooded street in Gujarat. The description part mentions “Battered by heavy rain, Gujarat’s Vadodara saw a dramatic “rescue” on this week – not of humans or pets caught left stranded by rising water levels, but that of a crocodile”.
A couple of Times of India articles are found reporting about the rescue of the crocodile in Gujarat’s Vadodara. The videos featured in the articles appear to be from the same place as the viral video but captured from different angles. The articles reported that 2.5 feet long and 10 feet long crocodiles were captured in Vadodara in two days.
Conclusion
It is found that old videos of crocodiles are shared to claim that they are from recent Himachal Pradesh or Punjab rains.
