This photo actually shows a waterfall in India

This article is more than one year old.
Published on July 30, 2020 at 06:45
2 min read
By AFP Sri Lanka

A photo showing water cascading down rocks onto a road has been shared in multiple posts on Facebook alongside a claim that it was taken in Sri Lanka’s hill country. This claim is false; the photo actually shows a waterfall in India.

The photo was published here on Facebook on July 21, 2020.

The Sinhala-language caption translates to English as: “Not abroad. This is Haputale Beragala. Its [sic] not for nothing that Sri Lanka is the most scenic country in the world”.

Screenshot of the misleading Facebook post, taken on July 27, 2020

Haputale and Beragala are towns in Sri Lanka’s hill country.

The claims circulated online hours after heavy rains were reported across Sri Lanka, prompting landslide warnings. Here is a July 21, 2020, report by local newspaper Daily News on the rains.

The photo was also published here, here and here in Sri Lanka, alongside a similar claim.

The same photo was also shared with a similar claim here and here in 2019.

However, the claim is false.

A reverse Google image search of the photo in the misleading Facebook post found the identical photo published here on the Instagram account of India-based photographer Shivkumar Gundure on July 31, 2019.

Screenshot of the image on Shivkumar Gundure's Instagram account

The post caption states the location is Malshej Ghat, a mountain pass in the Indian state of Maharashtra, which is famous for seasonal waterfalls during the monsoon season.

Below is a screenshot comparison between the photo in the misleading post (L) and the Instagram photo (R) :

Screenshot comparison between the photo in the misleading post (L) and the Instagram photo (R)

In response to the posts, Gundure told AFP via Instagram Direct Messenger on July 25, 2020: “This image was captured by me last year during the monsoon season.”

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