A taxi driver was killed and eight people injured as the canopy at Terminal 1 of Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport collapsed, prompting the Civil Aviation Minister to order a “thorough investigation of the structure”.
The incident came on a day the national capital received the highest single-day rainfall in 88 years. The impact of the heavy spell — 148 mm between 2 am and 5 am — could be felt hours later, as key stretches in Delhi saw traffic jams lasting hours, water entered homes and shops, and several neighborhoods witnessed power outages.
A spokesperson for Delhi International Airport Limited (DIAL) said that “due to heavy rains and winds through the night, a canopy at the old departure forecourt of T1 partially collapsed around 5 am”.
“While the cause for the collapse is being assessed, the primary cause seems to be the continued heavy rainfall over the past few hours,” the spokesperson said, citing the Met department’s rainfall figures.
“Eight individuals received minor injuries and were provided immediate medical assistance. Unfortunately, one fatality was reported,” the spokesperson said. The victim has been identified as Ramesh Kumar, a taxi-driver and a resident of Vijay Vihar. His vehicle was crushed by the canopy and his body had to be pulled out.
“As a precautionary measure, all flight operations from T1 have been suspended until further notice,” the spokesperson said. “A technical committee formed by DIAL to investigate the cause of the incident will give the report as soon as possible.”
Civil Aviation Minister Kinjarapu Ram Mohan Naidu visited the airport and later met victims admitted at Safdarjung Hospital. “After the incident in the morning, an initial inspection is being carried out, for which IIT-Delhi is being brought in. There will be a report soon. For us, passengers are the top priority. We are taking all the required measures to ensure that such incidents do not occur in the future,” Naidu told The Indian Express.
Naidu said Prime Minister Narendra Modi was monitoring the situation. “Our immediate priority was the safe evacuation of all passengers. Consequently, all flights scheduled until 2 pm were cancelled,” he said. “I will see that a thorough examination of the terminal’s structure is conducted by experts to ensure safety.”
DIAL is a joint venture between GMR Airports Limited, Airports Authority of India and Fraport AG Frankfurt Airport Services Worldwide. “The heavy rains and winds could have caused water seepage which led to the collapse of the structure,” a GMR official said.
Across the Capital, the intense spell of rainfall exposed the lack of monsoon preparedness by the Public Works Department (PWD) and the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD), both under the control of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP).
Delhi PWD Minister Atishi said the unusually high rainfall had led to the crisis. “For the first time after 1936, Delhi has seen 228 mm rainfall in 24 hours. Delhi sees 800 mm rainfall during the entire monsoon; but it has received 25 percent of this in just 24 hours. Due to the heavy flow of water, incidents of water logging occurred across the city. Even the drains – be it under the MCD, PWD or I&FC – overflowed. As the rainfall subsided, the water was pumped out. There were areas where it took a lot of time to pump out the water. In such areas, we had to cut the power supply as a precautionary measure,” she said.
Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena, who has often been at loggerheads with the AAP government, pointed to the lack of desilting — the removal of silt from drains, big and small, to ensure that they don’t get clogged and there’s uninterrupted draining of water in the event of heavy rainfall.
“It is shocking that the flood control order and desilting of drains that should have been issued and completed by June 15 are pending,” he said. Two months ago, the Delhi High Court had directed the Delhi government to assign the responsibility of management and operations of 22 open drains. The court had also asked for an action plan on desilting.
On Friday, the areas that were particularly affected included Aurobindo Marg, Ring Road and Outer Ring Road, ITO, Dhaula Kuan, Akshardham and AIIMS. Water also collected inside the Pragati Maidan underpass, which had to be shut for traffic.
“Many areas are completely waterlogged and basements are full of water. Desilting work has not taken place,” Sharaf Sabri, president of the Jangpura Extension RWA, said.
“We’ve had over 300 complaints from our colony alone. The water has reached the lift areas so electricity has been cut,” said Vijay Kumar Bharadwaj, president of the Defense Colony A-block RWA.