Fact Check: Statue of Unity has not developed cracks; viral image captured before inauguration
The claim is false as the image is from 2018, captured a week before the inauguration of the image.
By Md Mahfooz Alam Published on 9 Sep 2024 3:13 PM GMT
Claim: The image shows cracks appearing in the Statue of Unity in Gujarat recently.
Fact: The claim is false. The viral image is from October 2018 and was taken before the statueās inauguration.
Hyderabad: As a tribute to Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, the first deputy prime minister and Union home minister, the Statue of Unity was constructed near Kevadia in Gujarat. The towering monument symbolises Patelās role in uniting the 562 princely states of India post-independence.
It was inaugurated on October 31, 2018, by prime minister Narendra Modi, marking Patelās 143rd birth anniversary.
In this context, an image of the statue is making the rounds on social media, claiming that the statue has developed cracks. The image purportedly shows the crack in one of the feet of the statue.
An X user shared the image and wrote, āIt can fall any time. Cracks have started appearing.ā (Translated from Hindi)
Fact Check
NewsMeter found that the claim is false as the image is from 2018, captured a week before the inauguration of the image.
A reverse image search revealed that the image was originally published in 2018 by The Los Angeles Times and The Washington Post. According to these news outlets, the image shows Indian workers at the construction site of the Statue of Unity taken a week before its inauguration. The photo is credited to Divyakant Solanki for the EPA photo agency and Shutterstock.
We also found the image published by the EPA photo agency and Shutterstock in 2018. According to both websites, it was taken on October 18, 2018, and depicts workers at the construction site of the Statue of Unity.
Here is the comparison of viral and original images highlighting identical elements.
NewsMeter reached out to Rahul Patel, a public relations officer of the Statue of Unity. He explained that the statue was constructed by joining and welding hundreds of blocks. According to Rahul, "When the photo was taken in 2018, work was still pending, and the cracks visible could be due to the blocks not being welded at that time." He also confirmed that there are currently no cracks in the statue.
Further, we compared the viral image with one published by Getty Images in 2022 and found no such cracks.
We also found a post by PIB Fact Check that marked the claim as false, stating the photo was from the construction of the Statue of Unity in 2018.
Following the viral claims, the Statue of Unity Area Development and Tourism Regulation Authority issued a statement instructing Larsen & Toubro Limited (L&T), responsible for the statue's operation and maintenance, to investigate the matter. L&T's report confirmed the statue's safety and clarified that the image in question dates back to its construction in 2018.
On behalf of the government, Deputy Collector Mr. Abhishek Sinha filed a complaint on September 9 at the Statue of Unity Safety Police Station against the user "Raga For India" under Section 353(1)(b) of the Indian Penal Code. Police Inspector Mr. M.K. Chaudhary is overseeing the investigation.
Further, during our investigation, we found that similar claims about ācracksā appearing on the Statue of Unity were also in circulation in the past. Six years ago, IK Patel, the CEO of the Statue of Unity, clarified to the Gujarati daily Divya Bhaskar that the statue was constructed using thousands of 8 mm bronze plates welded together. The areas where welding was done can create the appearance of cracks, but they are not actual cracks.
Hence, we conclude that the viral image was taken in October 2018, before the statue's inauguration. The claim that the image shows recent cracks in the statue is false.
