The Noida Supertech twin towers are set to be demolished on Sunday (August 28). Edifice Engineering is the company responsible to bring down the buildings. The same company was also involved in the demolition of four apartments located in the Maradu town of Kerala’s Kochi in 2020. The Noida Supertech towers demolition refreshes the memory of the Maradu flat demolition. Here’s all about the Maradu building demolition:
The four flats, located in the Maradu town of Kerala’s Kochi, were razed in 2020 after the Supreme Court order as their construction had violated coastal zone regulations.
The issue started in 2007 when the Maradu panchayat issued show cause notices to developers of the apartments, for violation of the Coastal Regulation Zone norms, floor area ratio and other building codes. The apartments were H2O Holy Faith, Alfa Serene, Golden Kayaloram and Jain Coral Cove.
The same panchayat had also permitted the companies for the construction. But, later, it was realised that the permission was given without the approval of the Kerala State Coastal Zone Management Authority (KSCZMA). It was necessary for a civic body to take the approval of the KSCZMA before granting any permission for the construction.
The Maradu flats were located in the CRZ-3 area, which has strict restrictions on construction activities. The action of the court was against the violation of the rule that construction activities should not be carried out within 200 meters of the coastal zone. Residents and flat builders appealed to the court against the order issued on May 9, 2019, but it was not accepted. Thereafter, the Supreme Court directed the state government to demolish the flats.
After months of planning and inspections, the demolition began on January 11, 2020, with the help of government agencies and the country’s best technicians. The controlled explosion method was used to bring down the high-rise buildings on the spots within seconds. On January 11, 2009, at around 11.19 am, a series of small explosions went off at H2O flats. The 19-storey building collapsed. Alpha Serine broke double flats within a quarter of an hour.
On the second day, January 12, Jane Coral Cove, which was the big flat to break, was the first to fall on the second day — at 11.01 am. The 17-storey, 128-apartment Coral Cove fell in six seconds. Even though it was on the banks of the lake, the explosion was done with precision without even a handful of garbage falling into the water.
It costed the government Rs 66 crore to demolish these four apartments. Only 3.6 crore was spent for the demolition, the rest amount was paid to the residents as an interim relief. Each of evacuees got Rs 25 lakh as relief money.
Following that, a state government-appointed single-member judicial commission, headed by Justice Thottathil B Radhakrishnan, enquired about the entire episodes that led to the demolition. It found that officials were responsible for the illegal construction of flats in Maradu by violating the Coastal Act.
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