Noida: The Supertech twin tower demolition was largely successful and the adjoining buildings of Emerald Court and ATS Village are expected to get safety clearance soon for residents to return home by 6.30 pm, Noida Authority CEO Ritu Maheshwari said.
The Noida Authority oversaw the demolition of the twin towers on Sunday, nine years after a residents association went to court over the illegally built multi-storeyed structure. A series of controlled explosions reduced the 100-metre tall structures to a massive pile of rubble. Mumbai-based Edifice Engineering was hired by Supertech for the task. Edifice collaborated with South African experts Jet Demolitions for the job.
"The blast has largely been successful. Teams of Edifice, CBRI (Central Building Research Institute), Jet Demolitions making a physical inspection of the site to see if any leftover explosives are there," Maheshwari told reporters. The demolition waste is largely within the site. Some debris spilled over to the road, while a little went towards the ATS Village wall also, she said.
"The plumes of dust, as seen by all of us, dissipated immediately. All our anti-smog guns, mechanical sweeping machines, water tankers and sprinklers were pressed into service immediately," the senior IAS officer said. Maheshwari said once the safety clearance for the two residential societies is issued, cleaning those premises would begin there.
Meanwhile, officials of Edifice Engineering, the company overseeing the task, also said that no collateral damage was reported in the process. "No damage has been dealt to residential towers in adjoining Emerald Court after the Supertech demolition," said an official of Eddifice Engineering, the organisation handling the controlled explosion.
A joint team of Eddifice officials, CBRI (Central Building Research Institute), as well as Noida officials, began the structural analysis of adjacent buildings following the demolition. Joint Commissioner of Police (Law and Order), Noida, also confirmed the same. A total of 3,700 kg of explosives brought down the giant structure in an estimated nine seconds. The 100-meter tall structure, built by Supertech Limited, was razed to the ground remotely as a cloud of smoke engulfed the area.
Also read: Noida Supertech Twin Towers demolished, finally
Explaining the mechanism, Dr Anil Joseph, Managing Director of Geo Structurals Pvt Ltd, said the system followed for demolition was a controlled implosion. "Our team alongside IIT Madras was measuring the vibrations and studying the structural behaviour of the nearby buildings. Everything has gone as planned, and the fall took place as predicted. This is the tallest demolition to have taken place in India so far" he said.
"In controlled implosion, we delay the blast in each column. The sequence of the blast is controlled based on where we want the building to collapse. The touchdown vibration when the primary impact takes place is the most crucial, as controlling that large ensures the safety of surrounding buildings" Dr Jospeh stated.
"This has been going on for the last five months. On April 10, the trial blast took place. It all led up to today when the entire thing culminated in success" he added. As precautionary measures, the Environment Department of the Uttar Pradesh government had installed six dust machines around the area, which would measure the PM 2.5 and PM 10 levels before, during, and after the blast.
Following the demolition, anti-smog gun was also used to spray water droplets and bring down dust suspended in the air. The twin towers, Apex and Ceyane, consisting 32 and 29 floors respectively, have been demolished a year after a Supreme Court verdict in a case that dragged on for more than nine years.
