Noida twin towers: Planting of explosives over in one high-rise, work underway at second

The demolition company that is in the process of fixing explosives in the 32-storey Supertech twin towers in Noida’s Sector 93A, completed the process in one of the towers—Ceyanne—on Wednesday.

Following the Supreme Court hearing on August 12, charging, or fixing of explosives, was started on August 13. The 103-metre-tall twin towers—Apex and Ceyanne—are scheduled to be demolished on August 28. The demolition company, Edifice Engineering, needs 15 days to complete the charging process before the demolition. In the first five days, the smaller of the two towers, Ceyanne, was completely fixed with explosives, said sources.

The demolition team will now switch to Apex, the taller of the two towers and start work on the 24th and 22nd floors. It is expected that the entire charging process will be completed by August 26, after which checking and connecting of the shock tubes will start.

“Apex tower is taller and will take more time. Additionally, as we go lower, heavier charging and more explosives are required. So, while the upper floors are planted with the explosives in quick time, charging of the lower floors will take more time, especially basement 1, ground and first floors,” said Mayur Mehta, project manager, Edifice Engineering.

Mehta added that according to the plan, nearly every alternate floor is either a primary or secondary blast floor where explosives are being fixed. Basement 1 and ground are primary blast floors where maximum explosives will be used and will each take over a day to charge.

Apex tower has 32 constructed floors while Ceyanne has 29 floors.

Meanwhile, the traffic police nearly finalised the traffic management plan for the day of the blast. This also includes the closure of traffic movement along the Noida-Greater Noida Expressway and the diversion routes for half an hour.

Officials said that according to the tentative plan, the expressway may be completely closed between Mahamaya flyover near Sector 37 and Pari Chowk, including the service lanes.

“The demolition company has informed us that the blast will take only a few seconds and the dust cloud will be cleared within a few minutes. For safety reasons, we will take some buffer time as well. However, shutting the expressway for a longer duration will create a huge traffic bottleneck. The entire closure of the expressway will not be for more than 30 minutes, while the internal roads can be closed for a little longer. The timings will be finalised in the next couple of days,” said Ganesh Prasad Saha, deputy commissioner of police (traffic).

DCP Saha added that traffic along the expressway will be closed for 15 minutes before the blast and will be opened as soon as the dust settles.

All vehicles will be diverted from Mahamaya flyover towards Sector 71 and further towards Phase 2, Parthala Chowk and Kisan Chowk. From Pari Chowk, vehicles will be diverted towards Kisan Chowk and further ahead. Additionally, all main sector roads around the twin towers will also be closed so that no vehicles come closer to the area. Diversions will also be made near Sector 82 and 137 red lights.

Traffic officials will be deployed across all major intersections and roads around Sector 93A and a final traffic plan will be shared two days before the blast, said sources.