The original footage was uploaded to YouTube on March 21, 2016.
Mumbai:
A video of a train station in Mumbai, with false allegations that it was this month after local trains reopened to the general public, has been circulating on social media over the past few weeks. The 21-second clip shows large crowds on the platform as well as on the tracks trying to get in and out of Borivali station in the suburbs of the city.
However, the original video has been circulating online since at least 2016, the AFP news agency found.
Mumbai’s local train services – suspended in March last year due to the coronavirus pandemic and the closure that opened to the general public on February 2.
One of the false allegations made on February 3 in a Facebook post, along with the video, says: “Borivali station today after local trains started for General Public.” One person who fell for the wrong caption said ‘Corona, welcome or goodbye’ under the video. Another person noticed and pointed out that the video looks old because the crowds seen in it were not wearing any masks.
The video has been removed from the person’s post. Similar claims have been made in several other Facebook posts.
The original footage was uploaded to YouTube on March 21, 2016, revealing a reverse image search on Google by AFP. The video posted by Navin Poojary is titled “Amazing Mumbai local crowd (sic).”
“Heavy drowning of Mumbai local (sic),” the YouTube user wrote as a description below the video, which has been viewed more than 2.7 million times.
Mumbai’s local train service is considered the lifeline of Mumbai as a city because the people depend on it for local travel. They were suspended due to the pandemic at midnight on March 22 last year and gradually resumed in phases on June 15.
(With input from AFP)