Viral video of road cave-in is from Brazil, not from Ayodhya Ram Patha

Recently, there were reports of several sections of the newly constructed Ram Path in Ayodhya, Uttar Pradesh getting flooded following heavy rain. Against this backdrop, a video has gone viral on social media which shows a woman falling into a sinkhole as she walks on a sidewalk, with nearby people rushing to rescue her. It is claimed that this video is of the Ayodhya Ram Path, constructed by a Gujarati company.

Samajwadi Party leader and former Uttar Pradesh minister IP Singh shared the video, calling it the “Gujarat model.” (Archived link)

Social media user Manisha Chobey shared the video claiming that a 13-kilometer long Ram Path in Ayodhya was constructed by a Gujarati company for Rs. 844 crore. She alleged that this Gujarati company had pocketed all the taxpayers’ money. (Archived link)

Another user, Pragnya Gupta, shared the video claiming that this was the condition of the Ram Path in Ayodhya after the first spell of rain. She mentioned that the road had been constructed by Bhuvan Infracom Private Limited at a cost of Rs. 844 crore. (Archived link)

Fact Check

We performed a reverse image search using frames from the viral video on Google. This led us to an article on the Brazilian magazine ISTOÉ‘s website, which had been published on June 3, 2022. According to this report, 48-year-old Maria Rosilene Almeida fell into a water-filled hole while walking on a sidewalk in Cascavel, Fortaleza (CE). In an interview, she mentioned that she had not noticed the safety cone placed there.

We also found the viral video uploaded on the Brazilian YouTube channel OCP News on June 3, 2022. The description of this video states that city hall employee, 48-year-old Maria Rosilene Almeida de Souza, fell into an open hole while walking on a sidewalk in Cascavel, in the metropolitan area of Fortaleza.

In addition, we found this video uploaded on the Brazilian YouTube channel Record News on June 3, 2022. The description confirms that this incident occurred in the metropolitan area of Fortaleza, Brazil.

Furthermore, Ayodhya police announced legal action against those spreading the video. Ayodhya City SP MK Singh provided information regarding the FIR registered in this case, stating that a case had been registered at the Kotwali Nagar police station and that police were investigating the matter.

सोशल मीडिया प्लेटफार्म पर भ्रामक वीडियो शेयर कर जनपद अयोध्या के रामपथ का बताने के सन्दर्भ में थाना को0 नगर पर अभियोग पंजीकृत किया गया, पुलिस द्वारा की जा रही कार्यवाही के सम्बन्ध में पुलिस अधीक्षक नगर की बाईट। #UPPolice #ayodhyapolice pic.twitter.com/FWCp1858ab

— AYODHYA POLICE (@ayodhya_police) July 4, 2024

To sum it up, several social media users shared a two-year-old video of a woman falling into a hole on a sidewalk in Brazil, falsely claiming it to be of the Ram Path in Ayodhya.

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