This video shows a reservoir in China, not Koyna Dam in Maharashtra - FACTLY
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
August 2, 2021
A video accompanying a post is being widely shared on social media claiming that the video is of Koyna Dam. Koyna Dam is one of the largest dams in Maharashtra. Let us fact-check the claim made in the post.
Claim: Video of water being released from Koyna Dam.
Fact: The video is of Xiaolangdi Reservoir on the Yellow River in central China’s Henan Province and not Koyna Dam. Due to heavy rains recently, Maharashtra opened the gates of Koyna Dam on 23 July 2021 and about 10,000 cusecs of water were discharged. Video of Koyna Dam discharging the flood water does not match with the video in the post. Hence, the claim made in the post is FALSE.
When reverse image search is done on the screenshots of the video, a lengthier YouTube video with the same visuals was found. This YouTube video was uploaded on 18 November 2018 with the title as, “Amazing Water flow of Yellow River discharged from dam in China’. The first 14-seconds from this 5-minute 25-second video is the same as the video in the post. According to the description of the YouTube video, the water being discharged is from Xiaolangdi Dam in China.
Taking cue that this video could be from China, we searched Google with relevant keywords. A Facebook video with similar visuals, posted by People’s Daily on 28 June 2020 was found. People’s Daily is a China state-controlled media and one of the largest newspapers in China. The video is from Xiaolangdi Reservoir on the Yellow River in central China’s Henan Province.
On comparing the screenshot with the People’s Daily Video, one can see that there are similarities in the background of their screenshots.
There are news articles with similar images of water and sand being discharged from the Xiaolangdi Reservoir in China. Articles can be seen here, here, and here. Similar videos can be seen here and here. Due to heavy rains recently in China, the floodwaters had been discharged recently in the Henan province.
Due to heavy rains recently, Maharashtra opened the gates of Koyna Dam on 23 July 2021. About 10,000 cusecs of water were discharged because of heavy rains received in the Koyna dam catchment area. However, the video seen here is different from the video in the post.
To sum it up, a video from Xiaolangdi reservoir in China is shared as that from Koyna Dam in Maharashtra.