In an act of cyber-vandalism, name of lake was changed on Google Maps

For a few days between October 1 and 10, the Hussainsagar in Hyderabad became Jai Sri Ram Sagar Lake, NH 44.

“Now this in #Hyderabad Hussain Sagar lake suddenly became Jai Sri Ram Sagar! And I wonder @googlemaps not letting any Edit! (sic),” tweeted an exasperated user. Finally, at 7.39 p.m. on Thursday, the cyber-vandalism was erased and the lake reverted to its historical name on Google Maps.

“Someone marked a point in Hussainsagar as a temple and called it Jai Sri Ram Sagar. Changed the name back to Hussain Sagar in English and Telugu. Don’t know if and when it will be reflected for everyone (sic),” tweeted Akshay. “What’s going on here? Salarjung Pul being renamed as Chhatrapati Shivaji Bridge? Is it cybervandalism by IT cell or is it real? (sic)” tweeted one user about the landmark bridge.

Interestingly, in February this year, the Hyderabad Traffic Police had to remove a signpost near the bridge which identified it as Shivaji Bridge. There is a statue of the Maratha warrior Shivaji on northern side of the bridge while the Salar Jung Museum is on the southern side of the bridge.

Even the river flowing under the bridge has been renamed online. While most citizens call it the Musi River, cyber vandals have renamed it as Muchukunda. In Hindu mythology, Muchukunda is the son of Mandhatri of the Ikshavaku dynasty. Historically, travellers to the city have referred to the river in Hyderabad as Musi. The earliest reference to the river as Musi occurs in ‘Peter Floris his voyage to the East Indies in the Globe 1611-15’. Other travellers, too, have referred to the river as Musi and not as Muchukunda. It is only in an 1830 travelogue by Enugula Veeraswamy that the river in Hyderabad is referred as Muchukunda.

As most of the information on mapping applications is crowd-sourced, policing it remains a challenge as cyber vandals wait to click, type and rewrite history.