Opposition mocks Centre over Delhi airport waterlogging with ‘beach view’, 'Venice' and 'GDP' jibes

Opposition leaders on Friday took a series of swipes at the Centre after heavy rainfall left parts of Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport waterlogged, sharing videos of flooded areas and using references to “beach view”, Venice and India’s GDP growth to target the government over the Capital’s infrastructure.

Congress leader and Lok Sabha MP Manickam Tagore shared a video purportedly showing waterlogging at the airport and sarcastically referred to the scenes as a “beach view”. Congress spokesperson Shama Mohamed also targeted the government, drawing a comparison with Venice as she questioned the state of infrastructure at the country’s busiest airport.

GDP jibe over flooding

Congress leader Supriya Shrinate shared visuals of the waterlogged airport and took a dig at the government by referring to India’s 7.8 per cent GDP growth figure. She questioned whether such scenes reflected the infrastructure expected in an economy recording strong growth.

AAP leader Saurabh Bharadwaj also joined the criticism, sharing visuals of passengers moving through waterlogged portions of the airport. Opposition leaders used the flooding to question spending on infrastructure and the preparedness of authorities to deal with intense rainfall in the national Capital.

The political attacks came after several hours of heavy rain inundated roads and key areas across Delhi, including Connaught Place, Akbar Road, Lajpat Nagar and areas surrounding the airport. Passengers at IGI Airport were seen moving luggage trolleys through ankle-deep water as authorities worked to clear the accumulated rainwater.

Flights and traffic hit

The downpour also disrupted flight operations. At least nine flights — four to Jaipur, four to Lucknow and one to Ahmedabad — were diverted between 3.30 pm and 4.30 pm, while more than 400 flights were reported delayed during the day.

Traffic was severely affected across several stretches of the Capital and adjoining areas as waterlogging slowed vehicular movement. The Delhi-Gurugram Expressway was among the worst-hit corridors, with long queues reported following the afternoon downpour.

The India Meteorological Department had elevated its warning for Delhi to a red alert during the spell of intense rain, while Noida and Ghaziabad were placed under an orange warning. The weather department subsequently forecast a generally cloudy sky with further spells of light to moderate rain and the possibility of heavy showers in some areas.