Edifice Engineering, the private firm engaged by Supertech to carry out the demolition of two 32-storey buildings situated at Emerald Court project in Noida, will be conducting a test blast at the site in the last week of March or first week of April, officials said on Monday.
The officials said that they are waiting for the first batch of explosives to arrive, following which a low intensity test blast will be done to determine the quantity of explosives required for the actual blast. This blast will be like a firecracker and will not need any evacuation or additional security measures, they said.
The company estimates that about 2,500-4,000 kilograms of explosives will be needed for demolishing the twin towers — Apex and Ceyane.
The officials said that the tentative time of the main explosion is fixed for 2.30 pm on May 22.
“The demolition will take about nine seconds, wherein the buildings will fall inwards like waves in the sea, one floor after the other. There will be 10 primary blast floors wherein all pillars and columns of the floor will be blasted and seven secondary floors where the columns will be blasted partially,” Uttkarsh Mehta, partner, Edifice Engineering, said, while addressing the media at the Noida authority office in Sector 6.
The officials also said that an exclusion zone will be made around the blast area, which will include all buildings of Supertech Emerald Court, ATS Greens, some areas of Parsvnath Prestige and the road and park in front of the twin towers. This exclusion zone will be enforced by the military and police.
“Nobody will be allowed in the earmarked exclusion zone. There will be only five people inside this zone — two of our foreign experts from South Africa, one police officer for security, one local blaster and the project manager,” said Mehta.
He added that “charging the building”, which is the process of placing the explosives at the designated points for the blast, will take about 15 days. The explosives will be stored at a site about 100km away from Noida, the location of which was not disclosed by the company or the Noida authority.
“After the first explosive is placed at the site, it will be a high-security area and nobody will be allowed close to the two buildings. We will also ensure that the detonators and the explosives are kept separately as an additional security measure,” said Mehta.
The company is also in talks with three insurance firms and an insurance of ₹100 crore will be done for the process, the officials said.
The Noida authority’s chief executive officer, Ritu Maheshwari, said, “No objection certificates from 15 different departments have been taken for the entire process. The demolition will be done on May 22.”
Meanwhile, the internal walls of the twin towers are being demolished and locations are being marked on each floor for the placement of explosives. The floors where the explosives will be placed will be covered with a wire mesh and several layers of geotextile fabric, the officials said, adding that on the day of the explosion, teams from the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), personnel of the fire department and some ambulances will be kept on standby.
On March 10, the Edifice officials also met a group of residents from Emerald Court and neighbouring ATS Greens and addressed their concerns about the demolition of the twin towers. Flyers giving details of the implosion, including exact date and time of the blast and by when neighbouring residents need to evacuate, will be distributed 15 days prior to the demolition, the officials said.
The officials said that an evacuation plan for all those living within 50-metre radius of the twin towers has been prepared. Also, all vehicular traffic within 250m radius, including traffic on the Noida-Greater Noida Expressway will be halted for around half an hour during the demolition, they said.
The Supreme Court ordered the demolition of twin towers on August 31 last year, after the residents of the Supertech Emerald Court project moved the Allahabad high court claiming that the buildings were in violation of the National Building Code as the distance between the towers was less than 16 metres. The high court in 2014 directed the demolition as it found that the two towers – Apex and Ceyane were illegally constructed in collusion with officials of the Noida authority. This decision was upheld by the Supreme Court last year.