Sunday, January 12, 2020

Kerala luxury apartments razed using controlled blasts

H2O Holy Faith and Alfa Serene turned to dust; two more buildings to go today

12/01/2020, SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT,KOCHI


Great fall: (From left) H2O Holy Faith and twin towers of Alfa Serene being pulled down using controlled explosions at Maradu near Kochi on Saturday.H. Vibhu





Sending a strong signal against illegal constructions along the coastline in Kerala, apartment complexes H2O Holy Faith and Alfa Serene in Maradu near Kochi were razed to the ground on Saturday.

The three towers in the two complexes on the banks of Vembanad Lake were brought down using controlled demolition techniques on a Supreme Court directive. The lake site is protected under the Ramsar convention and the towers had been put up in violation of the Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) rules.

Two more apartment complexes, Jain Coral Cove and Golden Kayaloram, which were also identified as illegal, are to be demolished on Sunday.

The demolition of two towers of Alfa Serene and H2O was executed according to plan. Structures nearby, including homes, offices and the Kundannoor overbridge remained intact after the powerful explosions.

H2O Holy Faith was the first to be blasted, using controlled implosions that were triggered at 11.18 a.m. Although the explosives were scheduled to go off at 11 a.m., the process was delayed by 18 minutes as a Navy helicopter was on a sortie near the building.

The process was delayed on safety grounds as the aircraft flew past the buildings minutes before the blasts, said officials of Edifice Engineering, the firm that undertook the demolition.

While the implosion at H2O appeared to produce little external impact, the blasts at Alfa Serene rattled the area with loud noise and strong vibrations. Splinters could be seen flying into the nearby water body from the building. Some debris landed in the wetland.

Shock waves travel

The shock waves generated by the explosions travelled across the area for a considerable distance and rattled buildings. The impact was felt in buildings located around 500 metres away.

Huge clouds of dust covered the concrete structures after they came down. It took around 10 minutes for the large volume of dust to settle at the place where Alfa Serene stood tall.

Visibility in the area was reduced significantly for some time, and fronds of coconut trees in the vicinity turned grey with dust. Fire and civic workers sprinkled water over the debris as a measure to contain the dust.

Life in the area returned to normal around 30 minutes after the demolition, when traffic curbs were relaxed.

Collector S. Suhas described it as a “wonderfully executed” implosion with almost zero damage to nearby structures and vegetation. The vibration readings were well within the safety limit, he said.

Pollution level

Predictions on the environmental impact of the demolition appeared to be accurate. In fact, the implosion did not produce dangerous dust or sound levels, officials said. The demolition of the complexes was completed by 11.45 a.m. and the emissions observed were as expected, said an official of the Kerala State Pollution Control Board (PCB).

The PCB will now study the impact to assess the quantum of dust emitted by the demolition. The study will be completed within a week.

It was noticed during the time of the explosion that some debris from the Alfa Serene complex fell into the backwaters but on inspection it was found that the quantum was not significant.

“We had deliberately planned that some portion of the building should fall into the water. That was basically to protect the surrounding buildings. Adjacent buildings have been saved, protected completely,” PTI quoted the Collector as saying.

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