Heavy rainfall and strong winds wreaked havoc in New Delhi on Friday, causing the collapse of a roof at the city's main airport, resulting in one fatality and disrupting flights from a domestic terminal.
Meanwhile, flooded streets and traffic jams paralyzed daily life in India's bustling capital.
The airport area recorded a staggering 148.5 millimeters of rain over three hours early in the morning, surpassing the average rainfall for the entire month of June, according to India's meteorological department.
At the Safdarjung weather station, the city received a deluge of 228.1 mm of rainfall in the 24 hours ending at 8:30 a.m. (3 a.m. GMT) on Friday, marking a 266% departure from normal precipitation levels.
A section of the canopy at the departure area of Terminal 1 collapsed, and flight operations were halted until 2 p.m. (8:30 a.m. GMT), said India's aviation minister.
The entire terminal, one of three at the country's largest and busiest airport, was evacuated, and an inquiry into the collapse was ordered, said the minister, Kinjarapu Rammohan Naidu.
Rescue work was completed, and eight injured people were taken to hospital, said Atul Garg, director of the Delhi Fire Service.
At least 10 flights were canceled, and 40 were delayed, with departures from Delhi airport running late by an average of 50 minutes, according to data from flight tracking platform Flightradar24.
Flights scheduled from Terminal 1 after 2 p.m. were diverted to the other two terminals, Naidu said, adding that passengers would receive full refunds or could book alternate flights and routes.
Visuals from Indian TV channels showed a taxi crushed under a wrecked metal pillar at the terminal entrance, primarily used by low-cost carriers IndiGo, operated by Interglobe Aviation, and SpiceJet for domestic flights.
About 10-12 cars were damaged, with vehicles still being extracted from under the debris, said an airport worker.
"I missed my morning flight due to floods. Then my 2:10 p.m. Indigo flight to Bangalore was canceled. I urgently need to reach Bangalore for an official meeting," said Asif Ali, a businessperson outside Terminal 1.
GMR Airports Infrastructure, which operates Delhi International Airport and is its largest shareholder with a 64% stake, saw its shares fall as much as 2.1% in early trading.
A wall in southwest Delhi's Vasant Vihar area collapsed due to heavy rainfall, with fears that laborers were trapped in the debris, said a DFS spokesperson.
Many other parts of Delhi experienced flooding, with cars stuck in thigh-deep water. Metro services were affected, and traffic jams were reported across the city, while residents also complained of power outages.
The roof and windows of a parked car were damaged when part of a canopy of the new terminal building at Jabalpur airport in the central state of Madhya Pradesh collapsed following heavy rain.
India is among the fastest-growing major aviation markets globally, with domestic air travel reaching a record 152 million passengers in 2023, according to government data. Domestic airlines carried 13.8 million passengers last month.
The country has constructed ports and expressways at a rapid pace over the past decade, but incidents at Delhi airport and Jabalpur have raised concerns about construction quality, regulation, and project completion deadlines, politicians and experts said.
Ahead of the April-May general election, Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated or laid the foundation stone for new terminal buildings at 15 airports, costing 98 billion rupees ($1.17 billion).
Both Delhi's Terminal 1 and the terminal at Jabalpur were part of these projects.
Opposition parties criticized Modi's government, alleging projects were rushed before the election.
"Corruption and criminal negligence are responsible for the collapse of shoddy infrastructure, falling like a deck of cards in the past 10 years of Modi Govt," said Mallikarjun Kharge, president of the main opposition Congress party.
Aviation Minister Naidu defended the government, stating that the roof collapse at Delhi's airport occurred in an old building opened in 2009, not the one inaugurated by Modi in March.
In India's most populous state of Uttar Pradesh, at least 20 people died in various rain and flood-related incidents in the last 48 hours, including seven due to lightning strikes, officials said.
