NEW DELHI: The roof of a terminal building at New Delhi’s international airport partially collapsed in heavy rains early Friday, killing one person, rescuers said, months after a refurbishment project inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

About 148.5 millimetres (5.85 inches) of rain fell over three hours on the airport area in the early morning, more than the average for all of June, according to the national weather office. Delhi’s main Safdarjung weather station recorded 228.1 mm (9 inches) of rainfall in the 24 hours ending 8:30 am (0300 GMT), its highest 24-hour rainfall in June in 88 years.

The city of 20 million people had faced searing heatwaves earlier this month. Experts blame climate change for the extreme heat followed by heavy rain.

A wall at a building site in southwest Delhi collapsed in the downpour, with three laborers feared trapped in 12 feet (3.7 meters) of deep water and mud, a fire service spokesperson said.

At the airport, images posted online showed vehicles crushed under giant steel girders at the departure forecourt of the airport’s Terminal 1, one of several projects Modi celebrated in March ahead of the country’s recent general election. “Due to heavy rain since early this morning, a portion of the canopy ... collapsed around 5 am,” airport authorities said in a statement.

The 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. Infrastructure spending has been a priority under Modi, and the Delhi airport - named after assassinated former prime minister Indira Gandhi - is one of the country’s flagship projects.

The opposition Congress party slammed Modi, saying in a statement: “Because of the elections, this half-finished terminal was inaugurated in a hurry. Today this accident happened.” Congress defied expectations and exit polls to deprive Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of its overall parliamentary majority in elections earlier this month, forcing the BJP into a coalition with allies.

Delhi airport is run by a consortium led by Indian firm GMR, which describes itself as the world’s second-largest private airport operator. It also has interests in energy and highways. Reports say it has given millions of dollars to an electoral trust that has donated tens of millions to Modi’s ruling BJP - and has also funded Congress, albeit to a far lesser extent.

Senior Congress figure Priyanka Gandhi - sister of the opposition leader Rahul - posted on social media platform X: “Will the Chief Inauguration Minister take responsibility for this poor construction work and this corrupt model?” At 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. “Eight people have been injured, one person is dead. Rescue operations have been completed,” Atul Garg, director of Delhi Fire Services told AFP.

Infrastructure worries

Earlier in the day, parts of Delhi were flooded, including a tunnel opposite the venue that was the site of last September’s G20 summit. Some cars were trapped in thigh-deep water in chaotic scenes across the city. Metro services were affected, people had to navigate through waterlogged roads and traffic snarls were reported. Electricity supply was switched off in some waterlogged and low-lying areas as a precautionary measure, one of Delhi’s power suppliers said.

The chaos prompted complaints on social media about the capital’s creaking infrastructure. A federal government source said the home ministry would review Delhi’s preparedness for the monsoon with the local government, weather officials and other city authorities on Saturday.

A section of roof at Jabalpur airport in Madhya Pradesh - another of the projects inaugurated by Modi - also collapsed Friday, reports said, with no one injured. Safety and construction standards remain a concern in India, with accidents happening regularly. At least 20 workers were crushed to death when a crane collapsed above an under-construction expressway outside the financial capital Mumbai earlier this month.

Last 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. In October 2022, more than 130 people were killed when a bridge in Gujarat collapsed soon after it was repaired. — Agencies