NEW DELHI
\nThe roof of a terminal building at New Delhi\u2019s international airport partially collapsed in heavy rains early on Friday, killing one person, rescuers said, months after a refurbishment project inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
\nImages posted online showed vehicles crushed under giant steel girders at the departure forecourt of the airport\u2019s Terminal 1, one of several projects Modi celebrated in March ahead of the country\u2019s recent general election.
\n\u201cDue to heavy rain since early this morning, a portion of the canopy [\u2026] collapsed around 5:00am,\u201d airport authorities said in a statement.
\nThe terminal is used for domestic flights only. Departures from it were cancelled until early afternoon, with later flights diverted to other terminals, which were operating as normal.
\nInfrastructure spending has been a priority under Modi, and the Delhi airport \u2014 named after assassinated former prime minister Indira Gandhi \u2014 is one of the country\u2019s flagship projects.
\nThe opposition Congress party slammed Modi, saying in a statement: \u201cBecause of the elections, this half-finished terminal was inaugurated in a hurry. Today this accident happened.\u201d
\nCongress defied expectations and exit polls to deprive Modi\u2019s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of its overall parliamentary majority in elections earlier this month, forcing the BJP into a coalition with allies.
\nDelhi airport is run by a consortium led by Indian firm GMR, which describes itself as the world\u2019s second-largest private airport operator. It also has interests in energy and highways.
\nReports say it has given millions of dollars to an electoral trust that has donated tens of millions to Modi\u2019s ruling BJP \u2014 and has also funded Congress, albeit to a far lesser extent.
\nSenior Congress figure Priyanka Gandhi \u2014 sister of the opposition leader Rahul \u2014 posted on social media platform X: \u201cWill the Chief Inauguration Minister take responsibility for this poor construction work and this corrupt model?\u201d
\nAt the airport, civil aviation minister Ram Mohan Naidu Kinjarapu told reporters that the building inaugurated by Modi was not the one where the roof collapsed, which was opened in 2009.
\n\u201cEight people have been injured, one person is dead. Rescue operations have been completed,\u201d Atul Garg, director of Delhi Fire Services, said. A section of roof at Jabalpur airport in Madhya Pradesh \u2014 another of the projects inaugurated by Modi \u2014 also collapsed Friday, reports said, with no one injured.
\nSafety and construction standards remain a concern in India, with accidents happening regularly.
\nAt least 20 workers were crushed to death when a crane collapsed above an under-construction expressway outside the financial capital Mumbai earlier this month.
\nLast year, more than 40 workers were trapped for nearly two weeks before they were rescued after the road tunnel they were working on in Uttarakhand collapsed.
\nIn October 2022, more than 130 people were killed when a bridge in Gujarat collapsed soon after it was repaired.
\nDelhi has been hit by heavy rains in recent days as the annual monsoon reached the Indian capital after a long stretch of heatwaves and punishingly high temperatures.
\nThe India Meteorological Department said the capital has seen 228.1mm of rain in 24 hours, the highest such figure in June since 1936.
\nThe downpours have brought the city to a standstill, with images shared by the city\u2019s police showing personnel clearing trees and helping residents stuck in waterlogged areas.
\nMonsoon rains cause deluges and flooding every year in South Asia, but experts say climate change is shifting weather patterns and increasing the number of extreme weather events.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
NEW DELHI The roof of a terminal building at New Delhi\u2019s international airport partially collapsed in heavy rains early on Friday, killing one person, rescuers said, months after a refurbishment project inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Images posted online showed vehicles crushed under giant steel girders at the departure forecourt of the airport\u2019s Terminal […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":415477,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-415464","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n