When the Allahabad High Court had ordered Noida-based realtors Supertech to stop selling the twin tower project and asked for the project to be sealed – the question remained, what would happen of the two giant buildings as they were already built? What perhaps no one had ever guessed was that the court would order the buildings to be razed to the ground. Come August 28 and the two 100-metre high twin towers – Apex and Ceyane will be blown up to dust.
Mumbai-based company at helm
The responsibility for the demolition of the towers was given to Mumbai-based Edifice Engineering. The Central Building Research Institute (CBRI) has finally given a nod for the stacking up of the explosives, a process also called charging. The process could take at least 15 days. Over 3,500 kg of explosives will be filled in 9,400 holes, drilled in the columns of the 100-metre high towers. The towers located in Sector 93 A will be exploded in compliance with the order of the Supreme Court issued in August 2021. The main concern for the demolition process is the aftermath – the disposal of the debris.
Environmental impact of blast
The initial plan offered by Edifice suggests that the debris should be distributed for landfill purposes. The explosives to be used for demolition are a mix of dynamite, plastic explosives, and emulsions. The explosives will be brought in installments from a PESO-authorised magazine in Palwal. The implosion method would be an inward waterfall – which will prevent the debris from getting scattered. The sequence of the blast is expected to impact the building structure in a millisecond. The explosives for charging will be brought from Palwal in Haryana in a regulated quantity and then will be placed within the structures of the towers. The demolition process is likely to take around 9 to 10 seconds – the biggest worry of the day is the dust balloon it will cause on the day to a height of about a 60-storey building.
Safeguards in place
Safety measures for protecting the nearby buildings have been taken care of. The debris, which is expected to be around 50,000 tons will be disposed of in line with the Waste Management Rules, 2016. The debris may be processed at a construction and demolition waste plant or disposed of in a low-lying area. The dust cloud is expected to settle within 15 minutes of the blast. Trenches of 4 metres have also been dug in the blast area to contain the rubble. The safeguards being taken include evacuation of 1396 residents of Emerald court. While Delhi-NCR lies in the seismic zone 5 of NCR, the implosion at the rate of 34 mm per second is likely to be absorbed by the buildings as they are constructed to absorb around 300 mm per second vibrations.
Possible delays
A bench of Justices DY Chandrachud and AS Bopanna has given an additional bandwidth of August 29-September 4 for demolition in case of any supervening circumstances delaying the demolition on August 28. The new date was fixed after going through the proposals by all stakeholders, including Noida Authority, CBRI, developer Supertech, demolition firm Edifice Engineering and its South African partner Jet Demolition, on safety measures.
