An image of Mumbai's Marine Drive - bustling with people taking walks - has gone viral on social media. Captions shared with this image claim that it was taken on June 6, when people were permitted to begin outdoor individual activities outside containment zones in the state of Maharashtra.
The image has now started a debate on social media, with many claiming that the captions are false and that the photo was clicked before the lockdown was announced to contain COVID-19. Some even suggested that it was photoshopped to make the place appear to be crowded.
BOOM spoke to freelance photographer Niharika Kulkarni, who confirmed to us that she clicked the photo, and that it was taken on June 6, 2020, as claimed by the captions initially.
The image was initially shared by Kulkarni on her Instagram account with the caption, "Huge crowd at Marine drive in the evening. June 6, 2020. In phase 1 of unlocking, outdoor physical activities have been allowed across the state from June 3 from 5 am to 7 pm."
On May 31, the Maharashtra government announced an extension of the ongoing lockdown until June 30, while laying out a set of guidelines on easing restrictions of movement in three phases as part of Unlock 1.0. According to the guidelines, starting from June 6, people are now permitted to access public spaces for individual outdoor activities.
However, while some circulated the photo with the correct captions, some took to Twitter to call the image doctored or old.
1. Look at shadow pattern. Seems evening time
— NaughtySweetgirl (@MsNaughtySweet) June 7, 2020
2. Such high crowd may be result of Photoshop
3. May be image is of just before lockdown era started.
Now this is the correct picture of Marine Drive. And it is empty. There is a fake picture doing rounds on social media of people strolling with masks on Marine Drive. And Twitter fellas are believing it despite the sun shadow coming from the West. https://t.co/EpMarLOdoj
— Mitra Joshi (@mitrajo) June 7, 2020
At 730 & 830, Marine Drive was empty. That photo above is probably fake! pic.twitter.com/gbD668F4DN
— Ruel Rebello (@ruelrebello) June 7, 2020
Fact Check
Reverse image search on the photo showed that the image has been published by several news organisations and agencies on June 7, 2020. The earliest appearance of the photo is on June 6, on the Instagram account of Niharika Kulkarni who is a freelance photographer.
BOOM reached out to Kulkarni, who confirmed to us that she took the photo herself, evening of June 6, as mentioned in her Instagram. She also sent us a screenshot of the image properties, along with the image in the background. The properties reveal that the image was captured on June 6 at 6.34 pm.
She also sent us a shot of the camera roll, which shows the image stored in the camera long with the properties. While the properties show that the image was taken at 7.35 pm, Kulkarni explains that the time in her camera is set to an hour in advance, thus showing a time one hour ahead. However, the date of capture is clear - June 6, 2020.