Noida twin towers to be demolished in 9 sec, debris to be cleared in 3 months

Ujwal Jalali

New Delhi, March 15 (IANS) Just 9 seconds -- the time that Supertech Twin Towers in Noida might take to get decimated while the huge amount of debris that will get accumulated due to the demolition might take at least three months to be removed.

In its August 31 judgment last year, the Supreme Court had ordered the demolition of the towers. Edifice Engineering, a demolition agency, was given the contract to bring down the towers and now the countdown has begun for the demolition on May 22, 2022.

While speaking exclusively to IANS, Utkarsh Mehta, partner at Edifice, said it might take three months to clear the debris of the twin towers. "Tentatively, around 3000 kg-4000 kg of explosives will be used for the demolition," said Mehta, adding that they will use a shock tube detonator which is a non-electric explosive fuse in the form of a small-diameter hollow plastic tubing used to send an initiating signal to an explosive by means of a shock wave.

He said that it will take only seconds for the building to be razed. When asked how he can tell the exact time it will take for the demolition, Mehta said, "It is not likely that it will be razed in exactly 9 seconds. In my 40 years of practical experience, we have done several demolitions and with a building of that height I believe it should not take more than 9 seconds."

Of the two towers -- Apex, the taller one is 103 m and Cayene, the smaller one is 97 metres. Mehta said in their last assignment they had demolished a 108 m building and it took only 8.2 seconds for it to be razed to the ground.

Before the demolition, Edifice is mulling a test blast on the structure itself in the last week of this month or the first week of April. "It's purely to optimize the quantity of the explosives," Mehta said, adding that the test blast will be done on Basement B1 and on just one column of the 14th floor. Tthere are 40 columns on that particular floor."As every concrete is different, therefore the test blast is of vital importance," he averred.

Talking about the safety of the people in the nearby areas or the buildings that might come within the blast radius, Mehta said there are two buildings in the nearby Emerald Court that will be covered with containers. "We are also planning an evacuation zone and we will visit the area with the traffic and local police and our safety head will come from South Africa. They will hold a joint review of the area and then decide on the evacuation process," he said.

It was officially learnt that around 1,500 families live in the close vicinity of the towers which makes for a rough estimate of around 6000 people who might have to leave the area in advance for their safety.

(Ujwal Jalali can be reached at [email protected])