Old video of flash flood in India's Uttarakhand resurfaces with false 'broken dam' claim

"Be careful, NTPC dam of Rishi Ganga and Tapovan has broken. By evening the water will cross Chamoli," read part of the Hindi-language caption to a video shared on X on July 6, 2024.

The caption is referring to the Tapovan Vishnugad hydropower plant in the Chamoli district of Uttarakhand state, operated by the National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) (archived link). 

The video, which was viewed thousands of times, appears to show rushing floodwaters next to a rural road.

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Screenshot of the false X post, captured on July 18, 2024

The video was shared with similar captions elsewhere on X and Facebook, where it was viewed more than 20,000 times in total. 

It circulated after monsoon rains deluged Uttarakhand, with The Indian Express newspaper reporting landslides had blocked roads and rivers had swelled to near dangerous levels (archived link).

Monsoon rains across South Asia from June to September offer respite from the summer heat and are crucial to replenishing water supplies, but also bring widespread death and destruction.

The number of fatal floods and landslides has increased in recent years, however, and experts say climate change is exacerbating the problem.

The video circulating online, however, is unrelated to the monsoon season.

Old video

A reverse image search on Google using keyframes from the video led to the same footage posted on X here and here on February 7, 2021 (archived links here and here).

AFP reported at the time that a flash flood in Uttarakhand -- thought to have been caused by a breaking glacier -- sent a barrage of water and debris hurtling down a valley at terrifying speed and with frightening power, sweeping away bridges and roads, and hitting two hydroelectric plants.

Below is a screenshot comparison of the falsely shared video (left) and the same clip posted in February 2021 (right):

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Screenshot comparison of the falsely shared video (left) and the same clip posted in February 2021 (right)

A report by the National Disaster Management Authority published in April 2022 said 204 people were killed in the disaster (archived link).

It also concluded the disaster was caused by a rock and ice avalanche, echoing the findings of research published in the journal Science on June 10, 2021 (archived link).

The Chamoli police and the Uttarakhand State Disaster Management Authority have also refuted the claim, saying the video was from 2021 (archived links here and here).

Nand Kishor Joshi, a district disaster management officer for Chamoli, told AFP that no dam had been damaged.

"This video is old and has nothing to do with the current monsoon season," he said on July 18, 2024.

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