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🇮🇳 India /Elections & Politics

Delhi’s familiar monsoon misery returns ahead of BRICS summit

From Hindustan Times · () English

Translated from English and summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.

At a glance

News Named sources Ongoing story
  • Heavy rain flooded parts of Indira Gandhi International Airport in Delhi, forcing passengers to wade through water and disrupting some flights.
  • The flooding renewed questions about the airport’s ability to handle routine monsoon rains as the city prepares to receive BRICS delegations.
  • Delhi airport operator DIAL said it cleared the accumulated water, while officials did not address questions about the specific drainage gaps.

Eight days before Delhi hosts the BRICS Summit, a sudden Friday downpour left parts of Indira Gandhi International Airport waterlogged. Passengers dragged their luggage through ankle-deep water at terminal forecourts and on approach roads, while several flights were disrupted and diverted.

Water accumulated around Terminals 2 and 3. Passengers rolled up their trousers as they made their way toward the terminal, and vehicles moved slowly through flooded roads. Delhi International Airport Ltd said heavy rainfall caused the water accumulation and that it was cleared within some time.

The scenes have raised questions about whether the airport’s long construction program has given enough attention to basic protection against the annual monsoon. The BRICS Summit is scheduled for September 12 and 13, and delegations from 11 countries are expected to arrive in the capital from next week.

Indira Gandhi International Airport has undergone almost continuous construction for close to a decade. Terminal 1 was rebuilt under a 2019 expansion plan costing ₹9,800 crore. The project expanded the terminal from 55,740 square meters to 206,950 square meters, and Terminal 2 flights were moved there when it resumed full operations in April 2025.

The airport can handle more than 100 million passengers a year, and DIAL is preparing a 2026-2036 master plan to raise capacity to 140 million. The plan includes a new pier at Terminal 3 and an elevated air train linking the three terminals.

Passenger Mansi Sharma said she waited nearly half an hour for the water to recede. “I’ve never seen anything like this; there is so much water,” she said. Another passenger, Prabhash K, said he had seen a similar situation at the airport about two years ago.

Rain has exposed safety problems at the airport before. On June 28, 2024, part of the canopy over Terminal 1’s old departure forecourt collapsed, killing a taxi driver and injuring at least four others. DIAL officials did not respond to questions about the specific gaps that allowed Friday’s water to accumulate.

I’ve never seen anything like this; there is so much water.

· Mansi SharmaA passenger described the flooding while waiting for the water level to recede outside the terminal.
About this summary

Originally published by Hindustan Times in English. Translated, summarized, and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.

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