The roof fall at Delhi Airport brings Modi’s infrastructure problems to light

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s efforts to establish India as a worldwide aviation hub are hampered by a roof collapse at the major airport in New Delhi, which also raises concerns about the country’s rapid infrastructure development.

One person was killed, cars were crushed, and operations at Delhi’s domestic T1 terminal—one of the busiest in the country—were suspended indefinitely after a portion of the roof and pillars outside the departure area fell due to above-average rainfall.

The fall adds to an increasing number of infrastructure-related disasters that have occurred in the previous year, prompting politicians from opposition parties and experts to raise concerns about the dangers of loose regulations and the accelerated completion of projects.

“Quality shouldn’t be sacrificed in the name of speed,” independent aviation analyst Ameya Joshi stated. Noting that the Delhi roof that collapsed was an older construction, he also asked for measures to examine existing infrastructure.

Modi has made significant bets on infrastructure development for years.

The Indian government and business sector aim to invest $12 billion in the construction of new airports and the expansion of current ones in order to make air travel as accessible and reasonably priced as the nation’s extensive train system.

This is a component of Modi’s larger, $1 trillion infrastructure push throughout the nation, which has served as the mainstay of his proposal to strengthen India’s economy and create more jobs.

One of Modi’s goals is to make India a competitor to major aviation hubs like Singapore and Dubai.

India’s operating airport count has nearly doubled to 140 since Modi took office in 2014, and the government intends to raise this number to 220 before the end of the decade.

Modi stated in a video titled “Revolutionizing Airports” that he had spent $553 million upgrading Delhi T1, even though the collapsed roof was not included in that expense. The film also stated the number of additional new terminals that had been constructed, including one in Jabalpur, central India.

However, issues are starting to surface.

Posts on social media earlier this week revealed that following intense rains, a portion of the canopy at the Jabalpur airport in Madhya Pradesh also fell. In March, Modi gave the $50 million new structure its official opening.

A Himalayan tunnel that was being built collapsed last year, trapping 41 workers for 17 days and casting doubt on the building method. The highway project, worth $1.5 billion, includes the tunnel.

Following intense rains on Friday, an underpass in Delhi close to the location of the G20 summit became flooded.

President of the major opposition party in India, Mallikarjun Kharge

After the ceiling of the Delhi terminal collapsed, the Congress party stated on X that “in the past 10 years of Modi Govt, shoddy infrastructure (was) falling like a deck of cards.”

Kinjarapu Rammohan Naidu, India’s minister of aviation, stated on Friday that Modi was keeping a close eye on the situation at the Delhi terminal and that the government will hire experts to do a “thorough examination of the terminal’s structure” in order to guarantee safety. He indicated that a probe into the collapse has been mandated.

Research director at the Vidhi Centre for Legal Policy Arghya Sengupta stated on X that “every airport in the country must undergo an immediate safety inspection and a periodic review cycle should be set up.”