The Supertech twin towers are set to be demolished in Uttar Pradesh's Noida on Sunday at 2:30 pm.
The two buildings have been rigged with explosives, evacuations have started, and orders to clear the airspace in the area at the time of demolition have been issued.
Currently, final checks before the demolition tomorrow are on and it is expected that both the towers would crumble to Earth within seconds.
Here we explain what are the final checks going on at the moment, the precautions that have been taken, and how the demolition would be carried out.
Status of Noida twin towers demolition
The final check-up of explosives and related arrangements for demolition of Supertech's illegal twin towers were underway on Saturday, according to project officials.
Asked how confident he was regarding safe demolition, Edifice Engineering's project manager Mayur Mehta Mehta told PTI: "100 per cent. I don't have any other word. We are 100 per cent confident."
Edifice is the company carrying out the demolition along with a South African partner Jet Demolitions.
As precaution, buildings around the twin towers have been wrapped in protective coverings so that they are not affected with the dust and any possible debris that might hit them. Moreover, plates have been placed above gas pipelines to protect them, though an official said that they are designed to withstand even mild earthquakes.
"GAIL pipelines have been designed as per the Richter Scale 4 here. It is 3 meters under the ground. Still, we have placed plates above it. 100% there won't be any problem with the GAIL pipelines," said Jigar Chheda of Edifice to ANI.
How will Noida twin towers be demolished?
Over 3,700 kg explosives will be used to raze down the nearly 100-metre-tall structures – taller than Delhi's iconic Qutub Minar. The two towers have already been rigged with explosives.
The two towers are expected to be demolished completely within 15 seconds.
The "waterfall implosion" technique is being used to demolish the two buildings. Edifice said that it's the one that takes the shortest possible time and causes minimal disturbance to nearby residents.
Edifice Officials said all work related to placement of explosives and connecting them is already complete. The only element remaining was interconnecting the two towers and placing a 100-metre-long cable from the structures to the exploder, from where the button would be pressed on Sunday.
"Once that [evacuation] is done and all teams get down from the buildings, the two buildings Apex and Ceyane have to be inter-connected. After that a 100-metre-long cable would be run from the towers to the exploder to demolish the buildings. Once we get the clearance from the police department that the exclusion zone is 100 per cent clear, then at 2.30 pm on Sunday we will press the button," said Edifice project manager Mayur Mehta.
With the demolition, Noida's Supertech twin towers would feature among the tallest buildings in the world to be demolished in controlled explosions, according to a report.
The evacuation and other arrangements for demolition
Around 5,000 residents of Emerald Court and adjoining ATS Village societies have to vacate their premises by 7 am on Sunday. They would also remove nearly 3,000 vehicles and 150-200 pets.
An exclusion zone will be created in a radius of up to 500 metres around the twin towers where no human or animal would be allowed except for a team of Indian and foreign blasters engaged in the demolition.
Diversions would be placed on roads leading to the twin towers in Noida Sector 93A from Sunday morning while the Noida-Greater Noida Expressway, barely 200 metres from the demolition site, would be closed for vehicular movement from 2 pm to 3 pm, DCP (Traffic) Ganesh Saha said.
Google maps will have updated feeds for diversions and real-time traffic situations on Sunday, Saha said, adding that arrangements have been made for movement of emergency vehicles.
DCP (Central Noida) Rajesh S said around 400 police personnel would be deployed for law and order duty, while Pradeshik Armed Constabulary (PAC) and National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) personnel would also be on the ground for any contingencies.
Noida Chief Medical Officer Dr Sunil Sharma said the health department would station six ambulances at the site equipped with officials and medicines. Beds have been reserved at the district hospital and private medical facilities Yatharth, Felix and Jaypee too.
The demolition would leave behind 55,000 tonnes of debris, even as some estimates put the figure at 80,000 tonnes. The debris would take an estimated three months to be cleared and disposed of.
Noida Authority CEO Ritu Maheshwari said all arrangements are being made to clear the dust from the area in the aftermath of the demolition. Besides sanitation workers, mechanical sweeping machines, anti-smog guns, water sprinklers would be placed at the site, she said.
Residents of Emerald Court and ATS Village that PTI spoke to said they were anxious over the demolition, even as they expressed relief over the illegal structures finally set to go away after legal battles of more than a decade.
(With PTI inputs)
