The rush to complete the project ahead of the general elections seems to have ended up compromising the quality of infrastructure. This hurry has not just affected the temple's roof but numerous other infrastructure projects across India, especially in the last three years.

At least 16 people were killed and 41 others injured when a giagantic billboard in Mumbai's Ghatkopar area crashed during a rainstorm on May 13, while a canopy at Delhi's Indira Gandhi International Airport caved in amid heavy rain on June 28, killing a cab driver. As one speaks, at least 15 bridges have collapsed in Bihar in the last one month.

Projects like the Bastar development, the Delhi-Meerut highway, and the Atal Setu project, all inaugurated in the last five years, are showing structural flaws within months of opening. This has become a trend in many mega projects in India.

What does it bode for the projects and their implications for India’s urban life and economy going forward? All this damage not only affect people's well-being but leave economic implications in both the long and short term. 

As China’s economy slows, many international companies are looking to India as an alternative for their factories.  Bloomberg Economics expects the infrastructure drive to help lift economic growth to 9 per cent by 2030, up from 8.2 per cent in the last financial year.

According to Alisha Dev, a consultant with Deloitte, told The Secretariat, many MNCs have withdrawn their interest in establishing themselves in second and third-tier cities. Bigger cities are already hitting saturation, but these smaller settlements face a major issue: inadequate or collapsing infrastructure.

"This is often due to substandard construction from a lack of monitoring or clear corruption practices between the bureaucracy and the agencies involved," Dev said. "Smaller towns are critical to our development, and if the newly built infrastructure starts failing, we will miss a significant development window."

If the infrastructure collapse in small and medium towns is not taken seriously, it will have grave consequences for the country's economy and development as a whole.

But the issue is larger than that. One should also consider the impact on larger cities and their damage to climate change in the light of these collapses.

"Geographies and climatic zones have changed drastically in recent years, with shifts in temperatures, winds, and rainfall patterns. Despite this, we still rely on outdated environmental data and the National Building Code (NBC). The intensity and spread of these climatic factors have changed significantly," Shishir Dave, an environment specialist with Reliance Infrastructure Limited, told The Secretariat.

"Another issue is that many large projects, like the temple, are built without considering their climatic contexts. While the intent is good, the first rains have already caused the roof and panels to leak. This clearly shows that aesthetics are often prioritised over sustainability." Dave said. "It's not a one-way problem; multiple contextual parameters are at play and need to be re-evaluated."

One of the major issues is the use of substandard material. This happens because the prerequisites aren't checked and controlled properly by enforcement agencies. With so many companies involved in subcontracts, it often leads to lengthy court cases to uncover what actually went wrong, Dave explained.

"It's easy to penalise, but these incidents permanently damage trust, not just towards the state agency but also the company involved. Such situations often reveal biases in the selection process and expose a corruption nexus that resurfaces time and again. It's crucial that the selection process is closely scrutinised to prevent these failures."

It is an issue that needs to be addressed, analysed, and fixed from three fronts.

First, there is a need to understand and update geo climatic zones. Second, the National Building Code needs to be revised accordingly. Finally, there must be close oversight by a regulatory body dedicated to monitoring contracted agencies and their implementation methods, to ensure the safety of urban life and the economy.