A photo of Prime Minister Narendra Modi posted by the Press Information Bureau on its website purportedly showing him in a helicopter during an aerial survey of flood-hit Chennai on Thursday was removed after questions were raised in social media about its authenticity.
The prime minister made an aerial survey of the flood hit areas of Chennai, its suburbs and Kanchipuram and Tiruvallur districts. He arrived from Delhi at naval working station INS Rajali in Arakkonam, about 60 km from Chennai.
In the picture, houses and water were reportedly seen clearly which Twitterati felt could not be possible during an aerial survey.
Soon after questions were raised about the authenticity of the picture, PIB took it off from its website.
When contacted, PIB officials did not deny the goof up.
The prime minister, who visited the flood affected areas on Thursday, announced an immediate release of Rs 1,000 crore for relief and rehabilitation works in Tamil Nadu.
Facing flak for posting the doctored photograph of Prime Minister Narendra Modi surveying Tamil Nadu floods from a helicopter, Press Information Bureau on Friday expressed regret saying the incident happened due to an “error of judgment”.
In a clarification issued here, the PIB said, “Out of the seven pictures released, one picture used the technique of merging two pictures. This is being referred to as ‘photoshopping’ in sections of media.
“This happened due to error of judgment and the picture was subsequently deleted. PIB regrets the release of the above mentioned picture and inconvenience caused is regretted,” it said in the statement.
