While their colleagues and others were at least 500 metres away from ground zero, seven persons ensured there were no last-minute hiccups as the ₹500 crore much-maligned twin towers of Noida finally bit the dust.
A six-member team of experts from Edifice Engineering, who were tasked with demolishing the towers, along with Deputy Commissioner of Police, Central Zone, Rajesh S, were present just 120 metres away from the site of demolition.
Mayur Mehta, the man who is responsible for bringing down the twin towers, thanked God for the successful completion of the operation.
“God is great,” the project manager of Edifice Engineering, the company that was tasked with the demolition job, told The New Indian in his first reaction after the blast.
Mehta acknowledged that it was a sense of relief for him. “I had no fear. But I had a little doubt as the entire project was on my shoulders. It was my responsibility. But it is a relief that the operation was successful,” Mehta said just after the blast.
A day before the operation, Mehta told The New Indian that it would take seven seconds to complete the job. And he lived up to his words.
“There were just seven people, who were near
While their colleagues and others were at least 500 metres away from ground zero, seven persons ensured there were no last-minute hiccups as the ₹500 crore much-maligned twin towers of Noida finally bit the dust.
A six-member team of experts from Edifice Engineering, who were tasked with demolishing the towers, along with Deputy Commissioner of Police, Central Zone, Rajesh S, were present just 120 metres away from the site of demolition.
Mayur Mehta, the man who is responsible for bringing down the twin towers, thanked God for the successful completion of the operation.
“God is great,” the project manager of Edifice Engineering, the company that was tasked with the demolition job, told The New Indian in his first reaction after the blast.
Mehta acknowledged that it was a sense of relief for him. “I had no fear. But I had a little doubt as the entire project was on my shoulders. It was my responsibility. But it is a relief that the operation was successful,” Mehta said just after the blast.
A day before the operation, Mehta told The New Indian that it would take seven seconds to complete the job. And he lived up to his words.
“There were just seven people, who were near the blast site. Three of my colleagues are from South Africa. We have one blaster, Chetan Dutta. We also have DCP (Central) Rajesh S who was there with us,” Mehta said.
“One detonator was used for the blast. The button was pushed at 2.30 pm and the towers came down within seven seconds,” Mehta, who was seen congratulating his team of officials, said.
Talking about the damages, Mehta said, “We had calculated some damages. So, the breaking of window panes and a portion of a boundary wall of a nearby society is expected. But there was no damage to any of the nearby towers.”
Talking to The New Indian, DCP (Central) Rajesh S said, “We had planned this event in three stages. Pre-blast, blast and post-blast. It was all teamwork and the operation was done under the guidance of the Commissioner of Police (Noida), Alok Singh.”
“I had to take green signals from sub-commanders. The moment I got the signals, I had to count from 10 to 5. Then the other officials present there counted till one before the button (of the detonator) was pushed,” Rajesh said.
Rajesh also said that the direction of the wind, at the time of the blast, also played an important role. “After the rubble came down, the cloud of dust moved towards the Pari Chowk side before settling down.”
Rajesh also appealed to the people not to throng the site. “Through you (The New Indian), I want to appeal to the people to not make the blast site a selfie point. Let the rubble be removed. It will take at least 90 days to clear all the rubble,” he said.
A total of 3,700 kilogrammes of explosives were installed at both Apex and Ceyane towers. The height of the towers was 102 m and 98 m, respectively. The whole operation was the biggest demolition ever done in India.
Edifice Engineering is a South African-based company, which has its office in Mumbai. Following the Supreme Court’s order for the demolition of the twin towers, a team of experts and engineers worked for over three months to carry out the job.
Alok Singh
Alok Singh is senior reporter who has worked with The New Indian to report from ground during elections, investigations and crime . He reported directly to Rohan Dua to work on projects and issues that affect the civil society.
He has earlier worked across TV channels like Mirror Now and publications like Indian Express and Pioneer.
