Officials from CMDA demolished the 11 floor second tower (Belief Tower) today. This is nearly 2 years after the collapse of the other twin 11 storey tower (Faith) in Moulivakkam, a suburb in Chennai.
Technical Snag in Demolishing
The initial plan was to demolish the tower between 2-4 PM but due to technical snags int he communication equipment, the demolishing kept delaying. Finally after sorting all the issue the final countdown for the collapse was give at 6:52 PM local time.
Arrangements for Demolishing the Building
The demolition was carried out by Maglink Infra Projects Private Limited, a tirupur based company using explosives including gelatin. The company has more than 20 successful demolishing projects in various parts of India mostly in Mumbai.
Some major arrangement were:
- Families living in houses in a 100-metre radius from the demolition site were asked to evacuate and arrangements had been made to accommodate them at a marriage hall, stated a release issued by CMDA.
- Ambulances and fire tenders were also deployed in case of emergency.
- Traffic diversions were in place with no vehicles allowed to ply between Kundrathur junction and Porur, reports The Hindu.
- A power shutdown had also been scheduled until the demolition in areas close to the site.
- The Kanchipuram district administration also declared a holiday for all educational institutions in the area, as a precautionary measure.
Why the delay in demolishing the building?
The demolition of the “Belief” tower comes after a two-year legal battle between the builders and the Kanchipuram district administration. 2 earlier orders were stayed on technical grounds.
A three-member panel was set up after the Tamil nadu government approached the Supreme court.
The committee, comprising of Dr Shashank Bisnoi, assistant professor, Indian Institute of New Delhi, senior advocate Ashok Gupta and LP Singh, general manager (Structure), National Building Construction Ltd, submitted a report stating:
“The structural design of the building is so grossly inadequate that it can never be used for housing/habitation.”
History of the Moulivakkam Building Collapse
On June 28, 2014, 61 people, mostly construction workers, were killed when the 11-storey residential building that was still under construction collapsed following a spell of heavy rain. Project “Trust Heights” with twin residential towers named Faith and Belief, was Prime Sristi Private Limited’s first construction project in Chennai.
