Video from Tamil Nadu shared as Andhra Pradesh govt 'bulldozing' vending carts

What is the claim?

A video depicting a bulldozer damaging a street vendor's cart has been circulated with the claim that the new Andhra Pradesh coalition government is "hitting the livelihoods" of vendors.

The footage shows a bulldozer (a JCB-manufactured excavator) breaking the roof of a street cart as the vendor shouts and attempts to push it away from the heavy machinery. Social media users shared this video with a caption in Telugu, which translates to: "While Jagan's government gave 10,000 as an investment fund for small businesses, now the Chandrababu government is using bulldozers to destroy their livelihoods." Archived versions of such posts can be found here and here.

This claim emerged one month after the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) and its alliance partners — Jana Sena Party (JSP) and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) — won the Assembly elections in Andhra Pradesh, replacing the incumbent Yuvajana Sramika Rythu Congress Party (YSRCP) led by YS Jagan Mohan Reddy.

Screenshot of the viral claim online. (Source: X/Modified by Logically Facts)

However, this video is not from Andhra Pradesh.

What are the facts?

A closer examination of the video revealed that people were speaking Tamil, not Telugu, indicating that the footage likely originated from Tamil Nadu. A reverse image search led us to a video uploaded by News 18 Tamil Nadu on its X (formerly Twitter) account (archived here) with a caption in Tamil stating: "Highways Department officials removed trolley shops, box shops from pavements using JCB." J.C. Bamford Excavators Limited, or JCB, is a multinational manufacturer of equipment for construction, agriculture, waste handling, and demolition.

A Google search led us to an India Today report featuring an image similar to the visuals in the viral video. According to the report, officials from the state's highway department used an "excavator to remove and crush carts to reduce traffic congestion in Tambaram." Tambaram is an area located in Chennai, the capital of the south Indian state of Tamil Nadu. The report also included a video with visuals similar to those in the viral footage.

We contacted the article's author, Pramod Madhav, who confirmed, "This place is called Sanitorium. The Highway Department, under the Tamil Nadu state government, conducted a road clearance on June 15, where street vendors and pushcarts were cleared. During that incident, we captured at least four visuals, one of which shows a pushcart being demolished by a JCB."

A comparison of the visuals seen in the viral video and the image published by India Today. (Source: X/India Today/Screenshot)

We also geolocated the scene in the viral video to Tambaram in Chennai. The green board visible in the video belongs to the National Institute of Siddha, which is located in Tambaram, Chennai. Adjacent to it is an orange Bank of Baroda signboard.

A comparison of the visuals in the viral video and the location on Google Maps. (Source: X/Google Maps/Screenshot)

The verdict

A video from Chennai has been shared with the false claim that it depicts authorities under the recently-elected Andhra Pradesh coalition government using a bulldozer to destroy a street vendor's cart.