HYDERABAD: Sunday’s demolition of Supertech twin towers in Noida brings to mind a similar attempt made by GHMC five years ago.
Two attempts by the corporation to blow up an illegal building using implosion technology came a cropper at Guttala Begumpet in March and May of 2017. The GHMC has never dared to implode any illegal structure since then.
In 2017, the corporation decided to demolish unauthorised structures
erected in the full tank levels (FTLs) of 185 lakes within its limits.
Additionally, it wanted to demolish about 1,200 unauthorised structures constructed in the FTLs of city nalas. It hired experts and used implosion technology.
The first structure it aimed to demolish was constructed on Plot No. 22,
SIET Colony in Guttala Begumpet near Sunnam Cheruvu lake. It was owned by one Raj Shekar Reddy from Kadapa. The method included strategic placing of explosives on the stilts and timing their detonation so that the structure could collapse on itself.
Recalling the incident, a senior GHMC official said that the first
controlled demolition activity using explosives ended up as a partial
success. The GHMC decided to rope in three experienced players who had used implosion technology elsewhere, he said.
“Upon detonation, the building, instead of collapsing like a pack of cards, tilted to one side with some damage to the upper floors,” he said.
Two months, in May 2017, the civic body tried its luck on the same building for a second time. The exercise ended up in injuries to three construction labourers. While the lower floors collapsed, the top ones remained slanted dangerously. It was a joint exercise featuring GHMC and Uttam Blastech, a private firm. Eventually, the corporation had to depend on manual demolition.
“We were too cautious. Our idea was to protect the adjacent structure. This was the first attempt to implode a building by the company,” consultants, hired by the corporation, said.
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