E-Paper
Devastating images of forest fires are not from Uttarakhand, they’re fake. Tweets CM Trivendra Singh Rawat
Several people are sharing old images with the false claim.
Several images showing devastating forest fires have flooded social media, especially Twitter, that seem to suggest that large parts of Uttarakhand’s forests have been destroyed in fires this year. Many officials of the state from departments concerned, however, have refuted such claims of massive fires this year and asked people not to spread fake news.
Uttarakhand Principal Chief Conservator of Forest, Jai Raj told ANI that the images shared on social media are false. Raj also added that the massive forest fires shown in the images usually don’t take place in India but in countries like the USA, Canada, and Australia. He added that police complaints will be filled against those spreading fake news.
This Twitter user shared four images and claimed that they are from Uttarakhand. Several others also shared the same set of images together or individually, with the same claim.
Chief Minister of Uttarakhand Trivendra Singh Rawat took to Twitter to share a post by Uttarakhand Forest Department. The post calls out the same set of images which are now being shared by many. The department’s tweet details that “after verification of such images it has been found that these images are fake.”
Ashok Kumar, DG Law & Order, Uttarakhand also took to Twitter to share a video. He clarified that the images which are being shared with the claim that they are from Uttarakhand are mostly from other countries. Though some of them are from Uttarakhand, they’re old and from 2016 or 2017. Kumar also cautioned that some are maliciously using the images to con people out of their money.
