Fact Check: Punjab floods – man wades through floodwater with food grains? No, image is from 2017
An image has been circulating online, claiming to show a man salvaging his food grains in flood-hit Punjab in 2025.
By Md Mahfooz Alam
Claim:The image shows a desperate man wading through floodwaters alongside a makeshift raft trying to protect his salvaged food grains during the Punjab floods.
Fact:The claim is false. The image was taken during floods in Bihar’s Araria district in 2017.
Hyderabad: At least 29 people have died and 1.46 million residents have been affected as torrential monsoon rains trigger devastating floods across 12 districts in Punjab, prompting the Indian Army to launch massive rescue operations that have saved over 5,500 civilians.
An image showing a desperate man wading through floodwaters alongside a makeshift raft made from banana trees carrying his salvaged food grains has been circulating widely on social media, with the claim it shows the dire situation in flood-affected Punjab.
A Facebook account shared the image with the caption, “This heart-wrenching picture that has emerged from the flood devastation in Punjab will shake you to the core. A poor man can be seen swimming while carrying grain placed on banana trees tied together as a makeshift raft. This picture gives you an idea of the kind of havoc floods are wreaking in rural areas.” (Translated from Hindi) (Archive)
Fact Check
NewsMeter found that the claim is false, as the image was shot in Bihar in 2017.
A reverse image search led us to the same picture, published in a report by The Hindustan Times on September 10, 2017. According to the report, the image shows a villager carrying grains on a banana raft as he shifts from a flooded village in the Araria district of Bihar.
The report centres on the devastating loss of the Ansari family in the Araria district.
Mohammed Wajid lost four family members, his mother Memonisha and sisters Fareeda and Gulzari, plus his brother Afroz, when a sudden wave of floodwater struck their home. All four bodies were recovered within 100 meters, caught in a fence.
We also found the image published on August 17 in Financial Express and in The Hindu on August 19. Both reports stated the image is from a flooded village in the Araria district of Bihar.
Stock website Alamy published a similar image of villagers wading through floodwater in Bihar on August 15, 2017.
Therefore, we conclude that the image was taken during floods in Bihar’s Araria district in 2017. The claim is false.
