A single heavy rainfall has laid bare the extent of corruption in Indian infrastructure projects, providing the opposition with ample grounds to accuse the Modi government of dishonesty and negligence. Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s claims of world-class infrastructure were undermined by the failure of key structures during intense downpours.
The recent collapse of a canopy at Gujarat’s Rajkot Hirasar International Airport occurred just a day after a similar tragedy at the Delhi airport. Videos showed water seeping into the recently opened Terminal 3 at Lucknow’s Amausi Airport, which had been unveiled just a week earlier. These incidents add to the growing list of “leaking airports,” including terminals at Delhi, Rajkot, and Jabalpur.
In Bihar, the situation was equally grim, with several bridges collapsing due to heavy rainfall. On July 3, part of a bridge across the Gandaki River in Siwan collapsed. This bridge, located in Siwan’s Deoria block, connects Mahrajganj with numerous villages and is one of seven similar incidents in Bihar within the last 15 days. Another bridge in the Darounda area of Siwan had collapsed on June 22. The Bihar government has since formed a committee to investigate these incidents, which have also occurred in Madhubani, Araria, East Champaran, and Kishanganj.
In Maharashtra, state Congress president Nana Patole highlighted the emergence of cracks on the Atul Setu sea bridge, which appeared just months after its inauguration. Meanwhile, in Ayodhya, the much-celebrated Ram Mandir, built atop the ancient Babri Masjid, suffered from leaking roofs due to heavy rainfall. Additionally, there were reports of waterlogging and crumbling walls at the newly inaugurated Ayodhya Railway Station.
The massive canopy of Delhi Airport Terminal 1 collapsed on June 28, due to heavy rainfall. This section of the Delhi airport’s Terminal 1 was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in March this year. The disaster caused flight operations to be hampered and resulted in once casualty and six injuries.
Following these mishaps, a war of words broke out between the Opposition and the ruling government. The main opposition Congress hit out at the Modi government over the Delhi airport roof collapse, saying “corruption” and “criminal negligence” are responsible for the shoddy infrastructure created in the last 10 years. Congress President and Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha, Mallikarjun Kharge, came down heavily on the government and charged that corruption and the inability of Narendra Modi regime led to the collapse of Delhi Airport’s Terminal 1. Kharge charged that the victims bore the brunt of a “corrupt” government.
“Delhi Airport (T1) roof collapse, Jabalpur airport roof collapse, abysmal condition of Ayodhya’s new roads, Ram Mandir leakage, cracks in Mumbai Trans Harbour Link road, 13 new bridges falling down in Bihar in 2023 and 2024, Pragati Maidan Tunnel submerging, and Morbi bridge collapse tragedy in Gujarat are some stark instances that expose the tall claims by Modiji and the BJP of creating ‘world-class infrastructure!’” he added.
He further charged, “On March 10th, when Modi ji inaugurated the Delhi Airport T1, he called himself ‘Doosrimitti ka insaan.’ All this false bravado and rhetoric was only reserved for quickly indulging in ribbon-cutting ceremonies before elections!” The victims “bore the brunt of a corrupt, inept, and selfish government,” Khargesaid.
Congressgeneral secretary Priyanka Gandhi also criticized Modi, questioning whether “the prime inauguration minister will take responsibility for these substandard construction works marked by corruption.”
“Is the veil finally lifting from the BJP’s Chanda lo, Chanda lo corruption model?” she mused.
Gaurav Gogoi, a Congress leader and MP, emphasized that the cases that are coming to light constitute important projects and said that these projects were hurriedly completed in order to fit PM Modi’s agenda. “These projects were rushed through so that these inaugurations could fit with the prime minister’s schedule, and therefore there is this pressure to deliver them. But in the end, the quality suffers, and we come up with projects that have not gone through their due diligence and have shoddy results,” Gogoi added. Gogoi went on to say that the government is wasting all of the taxpayers’ money.
The Opposition MPs, including SP leader Ram Gopal Yadav, also attacked the government over the “rampant corruption”in states ruled by the BJP.
Awadhesh Prasad, MP from Ayodhya, said the town has rampant waterlogging and mud on its roads. He also said the walls of the Ayodhya Railway Station, inaugurated by Prime Minister in December 2023, are crumbling. Mahant Satyendra Das, chief priest of the Ram Temple in Ayodhya, stated that the priests discovered the shrine filled with rainfall.
Rainwater was found to be dripping from conduit pipes, two under-construction staircases near the sanctum sanctorum of the Ram temple, and the temporary roof over the ‘gudh mandap’, reported The Indian Express. Similarly, at the Ayodhya Dham railway station, which was redeveloped at a cost of over Rs. 240 crore and inaugurated a month before the consecration ceremony, water could be seen on the ground floor and first floor.
In an attempt to defend the PM, the government officials resorted to blame games. In the Delhi tragedy, they pointed the finger at the previous UPA administration. Defending the government, Civil Aviation Minister K. Rammohan Naidu pointed out that the structure that PM Modi inaugurated was on the opposite side. “During his visit to the airport premises, the union minister informed reporters that the building that collapsed here is an old building that was opened in 2009.”
Another union minister and Bihar’s former CM, Jitan Ram Manjhi, said that he “suspected a conspiracy behind the collapse of bridges in Bihar.”“These things are being done on purpose to tarnish the image of the government… Bridges are collapsing continuously. I think this is happening on purpose,” he said.
Modi “inaugurated or laid the foundation stone of 15 airport projects across the country that are worth more than Rs 9,800 crore” on March 10, according to news reports. This includes Indira Gandhi International Airport in Delhi’s “extended Terminal 1.”
Rashtriya Janata Dal MP Manoj Jha said, “I had heard a speech of PM Modi in Kolkata when an overbridge collapsed. He said it was not an act of God but an act of fraud. What will the PM say now?”
Since 2018, the BJP has received funding from the GMR group, which operates the Delhi airport, including Terminal 1. This funding comes from an electoral trust. The ruling party has received funds from GMR through a backdoor. The business has been among the top donors to the Prudent Electoral Trust since 2018, and the trust has been giving the BJP the lion’s share of its funding.
Challenging the narrative blaming the failures on excessive rainfall, Sangeeta Wij, a former vice president of the Indian Association of Structural Engineers, said, “Rain or water load should not be a challenge for either steel or concrete structures.”
It may seem overly politicized to hold a prime minister responsible for building collapses and flooded infrastructure, but in the case of Narendra Modi, who utilizes inaugurations and ribbon-cutting ceremonies to expand his personal brand and project power across the nation, it seems only fitting that the sodden chickens finally come home to roost.