Fact Check: Viral Video Showing ‘Completed’ Kottayam Skywalk Is AI-Generated

The Government of Kerala granted permission to implement the Kottayam skywalk project at Seematti Roundabout, where five roads converge in 2016, at an estimated cost of ₹5.75 crore. However, the project was shelved after the government clarified in the Assembly in June 2024 that the skywalk could not be implemented. A petition was filed in the High Court demanding the demolition of the pillars, citing public safety concerns, as the structure had begun to rust and posed a risk of collapse. The land belonging to the CSI Sabha, which was required for the remaining construction work, was not acquired. The government stated that the land needed for the Head Post Office was not handed over, which stalled the project further. Transport Minister K. B. Ganesh Kumar later announced that the skywalk would be demolished. In December 2024, an expert committee submitted a report recommending the demolition of the structure. Additionally, a strength test conducted by IIT Palakkad and the Structural Engineering Research Centre (SERC), Chennai, also advised the immediate removal of the rusted pipes.

Meanwhile, a video claiming to show the completed Kottayam skywalk is circulating on social media. The posts are being circulated with the description "Kottayam Skywalk". The post and link are seen below.

Viral post is archived here.

Fact Check:

The viral video claiming to be a visual of the Kottayam skywalk is baseless. The video circulating has been found to be created using AI.

Upon closer inspection of the viral video, it was noticed that the vehicles were parked carelessly and moving directionless. The quality of the video also indicates that it was made using AI. Further examination using key frames from the viral video led to a similar video on the Instagram page nirmalchandrasekhar. The description of the video, posted on December 21, 2025, stated: “If the work on the Kottayam skywalk was completed” and identified it as an AI-generated video.

For additional verification, the account was examined further. The page contains several videos created using AI, and the label “AI Expert” is mentioned in the bio.

For further clarification on the current status of the skyway, we ran a keyword search. A report dated November 2024 regarding the strength test of the skywalk was found, which suggested demolishing the structure that was built to ease traffic congestion in Kottayam city. As per the directions of the Kerala Road Safety Authority, an expert committee from IIT Palakkad and the Structural Engineering Research Centre (SERC), Chennai, conducted the strength test. The committee recommended demolishing the roof and the rusted pipes of the skywalk. During the inspection, all pillars except the foundation pillars were found to be weak, and the report recommended their removal.

Further verification using Google Maps showed that the rusted skywalk, which had been abandoned midway through construction, was clearly visible in satellite images. This confirmed that the construction of the Kottayam skywalk was not completed.

To confirm the presence of AI in the video, we ran the video on Hive Moderation, an AI detection tool. The result indicated that the video was entirely AI-generated.

Therefore, the video circulating on social media claiming to show visuals of the Kottayam skywalk is fake. The viral video was found to have been created using AI.