Kochi: The final round of preparations is on ahead of the court-ordered demolition of four high-rises at Maradu in Kerala’s Ernakulam district. Explosive materials are being planted in them ahead of the demolition.
Buildings named Alfa Serene, Golden Kayaloram, Jain Coral Cove and Holyfaith H20 would be razed to the ground through a controlled explosion on January 11 and 12.
Explosive materials were loaded on to the third, fifth and eighth floors of the Alfa Serene on Monday. About 500kg of explosives are needed to fill the 3,598 holes in the two towers of the flat.
Explosives have also been inserted on to all the floors of the Jain Coral Cove, except the ground floor. It would be completed on Tuesday.
Golden Kayaloram, the last flat to be demolished, would be loaded with explosives on Tuesday. Only 15kg of explosives would be needed to fill the 900 holes in this flat.
Filling up of explosives at the Holyfaith H20 was completed recently.
How are the explosives loaded?
Holes, with a diameter of 30-32 millimetre, are being drilled on to the pillars of the flats. These would be filled with emulsion explosive materials, which has ammonium nitrate as the main component.
The cartridge that contains the explosive materials would be wrapped with detonating fuse (denoting wires) before loading in the wires. Each cartridge would contain 125gm of explosive materials. Three to four cartridges would be filled depending on how deep the holes are.
Detonators would be linked to the cartridges only on the day before the demolition.
Expect 90-110 decibels
Hundreds of small explosions would be carried out on the flats. These are likely to create sound levels of 90 to 110 decibels. But the sound of the explosion can be heard at a distance of 500 metres to 1 km.
The building rubble as it comes crashing down on to the ground would also create a loud sound.
Safety measures
Priority would be given for ensuring safety during the demolition of the multi-storeyed buildings. Five layers of iron mesh have been used to cover the pillars in which explosives have been filled. Iron nets with a height of 2.13 metres have been used on the floors, where the explosion would be carried out. Three layers of geotextile curtains would also be set up.
Trenches have been dug around the Alfa Serene flat. This is to stop the tremors that would be triggered when the rubble falls on the earth.
Change in demolition time unlikely
Experts have said that it was not practical to advance the demolition of the Alfa Serene as was being claimed by some quarters.
Authorities had earlier said that demolition of the Holyfaith H20 would be carried out at 11am on January 11 and explosion at Alfa Serene would be carried out at 11.05am. However, the second explosion is likely to be carried out only at 11.30am, sources indicated.
The nod for the second explosion would be given only after analysing the impact of the first explosion.
