New Delhi: Delhi International Airport Limited (DIAL), which operates Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA), has filed an FIR with the Delhi Police against 63 social media handles for allegedly circulating misleading posts and videos about waterlogging at the airport.
The action follows heavy rain on September 4, when temporary water accumulated at the Terminal 3 arrival forecourt. DIAL said it received around 72.2 mm of rainfall in three hours, with its teams clearing the water within 20 minutes, while airport operations continued safely.
However, weather conditions did affect flight schedules, with 11 flights diverted between 3:30 pm and 5 pm, according to The Indian Express. DIAL has alleged that some social media accounts went beyond reporting the genuine water accumulation, falsely suggesting that the airport was severely flooded or operations had been shut down.
One such viral video was traced to Dubai Airport during the April 2024 floods, rather than Delhi. The PIB Fact Check Unit separately flagged the claim as fake and urged people to verify such footage before sharing it.
Rain Was Real, Claims Were Not
The controversy stems from a genuine spell of intense rainfall across Delhi-NCR on September 4. At IGIA, water accumulated temporarily at the Terminal 3 arrival forecourt, while surrounding roads and underpasses also reported waterlogging.
Visuals of passengers negotiating waterlogged areas circulated widely online, making the incident a legitimate subject of public concern. DIAL, however, said the accumulation at the T3 forecourt was localised and was cleared within 20 minutes.
A DIAL spokesperson said, “While there was temporary water accumulation in the Terminal 3 arrival forecourt following an episode of intense rainfall, airport operations were not affected, and the situation was resolved within 20 minutes.”
The operator further described some online content as an apparent attempt to create “public mischief”, damage the reputation of a “critical public utility service” and generate “unwarranted concerns” among passengers.
At the same time, it is important not to conflate the airport operator’s claim with the wider weather disruption: The Indian Express reported that 11 flights were diverted because of adverse weather, while airlines issued advisories to passengers.
Dubai Footage Recast As Delhi
A key example cited by DIAL involves an old video showing flooding at Dubai Airport that was allegedly circulated as footage from Delhi. The government’s PIB Fact Check Unit addressed a similar viral claim on September 5, saying the video purportedly showing the IGIA runway submerged was not from Delhi but from Dubai in April 2024, when exceptionally heavy rainfall caused severe flooding at Dubai Airport.
Independent fact-checking by CyberPeace also traced the footage to April 2024, identifying an earlier version uploaded by The Indian Express on YouTube on April 17, 2024, with the incident identified as taking place in Dubai.
Fact Crescendo similarly traced matching footage to Dubai Airport and found that the clip had previously appeared in coverage of the UAE floods. Meanwhile, social-media discussion around DIAL’s FIR has highlighted the same tension: some users questioned the legal action because water accumulation did occur, while others pointed out that unrelated Dubai footage being presented as Delhi footage is a materially different issue.
The FIR itself is an allegation and does not establish that all 63 handles committed an offence; the individual content and circumstances will have to be examined through the legal process.
The Logical Indian’s Perspective
In an age where a dramatic video can reach millions before anyone checks its source, the Delhi Airport episode is a reminder that truth needs context. Genuine waterlogging should not be dismissed, especially when passengers experience it first-hand, and public authorities must remain transparent about infrastructure and weather-related disruptions.
Equally, criticism loses its value when old footage from another country is presented as current evidence or when a temporary incident is portrayed as a complete shutdown. The answer should not be a culture of fear around sharing information, but one where platforms, authorities, journalists and citizens all take responsibility for verifying what they amplify.
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