Fact Check: Viral image of suspension bridge is not form Jammu Kashmir but China
NH44 also known as Old NH7, is the longest national highway in India. It stretches for 3745 kilometers, connecting
Jammu and Kashmir
NH44 also known as Old NH7, is the longest national highway in India. It stretches for 3745 kilometers, connecting Srinagar, in the northern tip to Kanya Kumari at the Southernmost point of India. Union Minister of Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari recently highlighted the progress made in infrastructure development in Jammu and Kashmir. One of the key points of Gadkari’s assertion is the ‘unprecedented investment’ in J&K’s road infrastructure. The development of roads, tunnels, and expressways is set to shorten travel times, increase accessibility, and improve connectivity between key destinations. The expressway linking Delhi, Katra, and Srinagar, is a 670-km long 4-lane wide controlled access expressway. This expressway will drastically reduce travel times, promoting tourism and facilitating the movement of goods. The Zoji La Tunnel is an ongoing project, which will be the largest in Asia, and will hold strategic importance for civilian and military mobility, improving connectivity with the Ladakh region.
Meanwhile, a video of a long suspended bridge in a hilly area is circulating on social media, claiming that it shows NH44 in Jammu Kashmir. In the video, we can see directions shown to places like Jammu, Banihal, Leh, Patnitop, Baramulla, and Simba.
Fact check:
The claim is False. The suspended bridge is not from Jammu Kashmir, it is a bridge in China,
We extracted the keyframes from the viral video using the Invid tool and used the extracted keyframes to search with Google reverse image search. During our research, we found that the video shows the Beipanjiang Bridge.
According to a report published in Times of India published on September 21, 2024, the Beipanjiang Bridge in Southwest China connects Yunnan and Guizhou provinces. The article shares an image showing the bridge. It is officially recognized as the world's highest motorable bridge in the Guinness Book of World Records, it soars 565 meters above the Beipan River valley.
A video report published by BBC in July 2022, with the caption ‘Suspended 565m above China’s remote south-west mountains, the Beipanjiang Bridge took decades to construct and has revolutionized bridge-building around the world.’ The video shows the beautiful suspended bridge constructed on the Beipan River valley.
China Global Television Network (CGTN) also shared a video of the bridge with the title – Time-lapse: World’s highest bridge to open in China. The Beipanjiang Bridge, the world’s highest bridge crossing the Nizhu River Canyon located in the juncture of Yunnan and Guizhou provinces, is 565 meters above the river. It was officially completed on Saturday after three years of construction. As many as 1,000 engineers and technicians worked on this high-altitude project. The bridge is expected to open before the end of this year. This aerial time-lapse shot shows the splendid scene surrounding the world’s highest bridge. Take a look.
Hence, the viral video does not show the long, suspended bridge on NH 44 in Jammu and Kashmir. It is a bridge in China. The claim is False.