FACT-CHECK: Viral picturesque mountain forest road is NOT from Adaklu in Ghana

Claim: A picture showing a tarred road constructed to cut through a mountain forest is from Ghana

Source: Viral picture

Verdict: FALSE

Researched by Gifty Tracy Aminu

A viral picture showing a tarred road constructed to cut through a closed canopy mountain forest is being portrayed online as having been taken in Adaklu, in the Volta Region of Ghana.

The image has been shared with different captions across social media platforms, including Facebook and Twitter (here, here, here, here and here).

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This fact-check report will seek to verify where the image was originally taken from.

Where is Adaklu?

Adaklu is a town in the Volta Region of Ghana that shares boundaries with Ho Municipal to the north, Central Tongu District to the south, Agotime Ziope District to the east and Ho West District to the west.

According to Ghana’s 2021 Population and Housing Census, Adaklu has a population of 86,649, with 18,963 males and 19,686 females.

Adaklu is known for its enviable green vegetation and a tall mountain – 580m above sea level.

Fact-check

Using Reverse Image Search, GhanaFact found a similar image shared by Facebook Page, Wayanad, on November 15, 2012.

Further search showed the location where the viral picture was taken was Kerala, a State in southwest India which has several tourist sites.

Through our online search, GhanaFact has also found that the photograph has been used by mywayanad.com and Keralatourism.org mainly to promote tourism, with some crediting the original source of the image.

Another source to prove where exactly the image was captured is Pinterest, an image-sharing and social media service.

In 2019, Pinterest shared the same picture and captioned it: “Wayanad is one of the most scintillating tourist attractions in Kerala that has plenty of nature and natural resources.”

Meanwhile, PesaCheck and Fact Crescendo Cambodia, two signatory organisations of the International Fact-Checking Network (IFCN), have both debunked claims misrepresenting the picture in other countries.

Verdict

The claim is FALSE.