Brace for dust, debris as Supertech twin towers crash

A loud boom and, nine seconds later, a massive dust cloud will be all that is left of the 103m tall, 32-storey Supertech twin towers in Noida’s Sector 93A on August 28.

According to Edifice Engineering and Jet Demolitions, the companies undertaking the country’s largest such demolition project, a controlled implosion is the safest way to raze a building in a crowded area. The only adverse impact will be the huge dust plume that will rise as 80,000 tonnes of debris plummets to the ground. Even mist guns will not be able to settle the dust, demolition experts said. They are, however, pinning hopes on favourable winds to help dissipate the dust cloud in the quickest possible time.

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“The dust is inevitable, and there is no technology yet that can suppress it,” says Joe Brinkkman, CEO of Jet Demolitions, the man helming the project that will see over a 1,000 implosions at the same time.

Residents, especially from nearby Emerald Court as well as ATS Village, have been raising concerns about the dust and enquiring about suppressing measures. They are also demanding that the debris be removed quickly as the demolition site will keep generating dust, especially on windy days over the next few months.

“We are already concerned that the dust may cause problems for us. We also know that a few windows may crack from the blast impact and that means the dust will likely enter our flats,” said Vidit Mehra, a resident of Aster 2 tower, which is located a mere 9m from the twin towers.

Ritu Maheshwari, CEO, Noida authority, said, “The air pollution is a concern for residents as well as authorities — we are still unsure what the air quality levels will be on the day of the blast. We have tried to get projections but nobody can clearly confirm what the pollution levels will be or how much dust will be generated. A lot will depend on the weather.”

She said over 100 sanitation staff will be deployed on the day of the blast and on the following two days to clean the dust from the area. The authority will use four mechanical sweeping machines, 10 smog guns and water tankers to settle the dust, Maheshwari said.

Additionally, the Uttar Pradesh Pollution Control Board (UPPCB) has set up a manual air quality monitoring device at the demolition site on Thursday. Officials said six more such devices will be set up to monitor air quality continuously from August 27 to 31.

“We will set up two peripheries. Three of the devices will be placed in the periphery of 500m while three more will be placed within a 1km periphery. This will help us monitor the increase in pollution levels. We are expecting only the PM10 — fine particles with a diameter of 10 microns that is mostly found in dust — to rise. So far, pollution levels in the area are under control,” said Praveen Kumar, regional officer, UPPCB (Noida).

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The Jet Demolitions team earlier told HT that most of the dust will dissipate within 10 minutes and will cause no damage to people or plants. The dust from the blast will mainly comprise calcium, which is not harmful to the environment or people.

The Edifice and Jet teams are also monitoring wind directions since the past 10 days and they believe that the wind is blowing towards west, in the direction of a 50-acre central park in front of the twin towers. This is also the direction in which the towers will fall, they said.

Doctors, meanwhile, advised residents to be cautious and to keep their windows and doors shut.

“If there is open area around the site, much of the impact of the dust and harmful gases will be carried away by the wind. There may be a problem if there are confined spaces and open drains as the dust and gases can settle in these places, but that is not the case here,” said Dr Mrinal Sircar, director and head of pulmonology, Fortis Hospital, Noida.

“Patients with asthma and other diagnosed conditions should be careful to avoid exposure and must remain indoors. This is a general precaution for such patients even in normal circumstances. I do not expect that the blast should cause any major health concerns among people,” said Sircar.

Apart from the air pollution, 80,000 tonnes of debris and 4,000 tonnes of steel will also need to be managed scientifically. Officials said 50,000 tonnes of debris will be used up to level the ground.

Earlier, the plan was to send the debris to a landfill site in Sector 80, but now the authority is planning to send it to the C&D waste plant in Sector 80 and another in Delhi for disposal in a scientific manner. The entire debris management will take over three months, while the steel will be reclaimed and sold by Edifice to recover the cost of demolition.