Delhi airport disaster casts spotlight t on Modi's building spree

Quality of India’s infrastructure called into question even as it steps up development

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DELHI The deadly roof collapse at India's busiest airport is the latest in a string of recent infrastructure disasters in the country, raising safety questions as Prime Minister Narendra Modi spends billions of dollars to improve transportation across the country.

Officials at Delhi's airport cancelled operations at its Terminal 1 after an outdoor metal canopy collapsed during torrential rainfall on June 28. Multiple cars were crushed outside the airport, which was recently renovated, killing one person and injuring eight others, according to the authorities.

The area recorded its heaviest one-day June rainfall in 88 years that day.

Several hundred kilometres east, in the state of Bihar, four bridges recently collapsed and a structure at an airport in central India caved in. With the start of the monsoon season, waterlogging is now the norm in many cities.

In Ayodhya, the roof of a massive temple inaugurated by Mr Modi earlier in 2024 has been leaking, and flooding has inundated newly built roads, according to local reports.