Chennai floods: Photoshopped image of Narendra Modi sparks hilarious Twitter mockery

A photo of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi surveying the Chennai floods from above sparked criticism after it appeared that the image was Photoshopped. India's Press Information Bureau (PIB) came under heavy criticism on 3 December for posting the badly morphed image and deleted the post within an hour.

The image first posted by the PIB showed Modi looking down at the flood-hit region during an aerial survey, however, the view from his window was replaced with a close-up scene of the destruction. People were quick to spot the botched Photoshop work before it was removed from Twitter and criticised the PIB for attempting to overhype an already tense situation.

Thousands have fled their homes in the south Indian city of Chennai as overflowing rivers and lakes posed an additional threat after the area received the heaviest rainfall in a century. The army has been deployed to assist with rescue efforts and the area has now been declared a "disaster zone". Officials have said that at least 280 people have been killed.

Many questioned why PIB felt the need to Photoshop the image when the prime minister had visited the region and the real image, which was posted later, did show Modi surveying the flood-hit state of Tamil Nadu. During his visit to the disaster zone, Modi announced aid relief worth 10bn rupees ($149m, £98m) rupees, available immediately for the state.

Despite PIB removing the Photoshopped image relatively quickly after they posted it, people were quick to respond and screenshots had already been taken of the dramatized photo and circulated widely. Many have begun mocking PIB and Modi by posting their own Photoshopped versions of the image.