Within seconds, Jain Coral Cove, the largest of the four illegal apartment complexes in Maradu, was razed to the ground at 11.03 am on Sunday. This is the third Maradu apartment complex that has been pulled down following the Supreme Court order for flouting Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) norms. Two of the apartment complexes, the H2O Holy Faith and the twin towers of Alfa Serene, were razed on Saturday.
Jain Coral Cove, located just 700 metres away from the Nettoor Junction, was demolished by Edifice Engineering, a Mumbai-based demolition company, which also razed H2O Holy Faith on Saturday.
The building, which had 17 floors, had 128 apartments. Though Jain Coral Cove had the largest number of apartments among the four complexes, they were not fully sold out and people had been residing only in 62 apartments.
It has been estimated that demolition of the building required about Rs 82 lakhs. Over 372 kilogram of explosives - mainly ammonium nitrate mixture - were used for the controlled implosion. The explosives were filled in 2,660 holes inside the apartment structure, during the pre-demolition works. The demolition technique called controlled implosion makes the building collapse inwards rather than outwards like in an explosion. Explosives were not filled in all the 17 floors, rather it was strategically filled in floor numbers 1, 5, 8, 11 and 14.
The 62 families who had been living in the flat earlier, were evacuated from the building in the months of October and November.
Unlike Saturday’s demolitions, the Jain Coral Cove apartment was situated in a less populated area. In fact there are no houses around the apartment building which has now been demolished. It was situated at the dead end of the Market Road that starts from Nettoor junction.
There were concerns raised over the demolition of the twin towers of Alfa Serene as it was located in a highly-populated residential area. Many were also apprehensive over the effect of the demolition of H2O Holy Faith on the Indian Oil Corporation’s oil pipeline that passed right through in front of the building and about the Thevara-Kundanoor bridge that passes besides it.
Hours before the demolition
Just like Saturday, safety measures were put in place from Sunday morning. Prohibitory orders as per the Section 144 of Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC), was imposed from 8 am within the 200 metre premises of the apartment building. Nobody was allowed to stay within the exclusion zone. Residents in the area were evacuated by 9 am on Sunday morning to safe locations. Two buses were deployed to pick up residents for this. A medical team along with two ambulances were also deployed at two spots outside the cordoned 200 metre premises to meet any unprecedented situations or medical emergencies.
#WATCH Maradu flats demolition: Jain Coral Cove complex demolished through a controlled implosion.2 out of the 4 illegal apartment towers were demolished yesterday, today is the final round of the operation. #Kochi #Kerala pic.twitter.com/mebmdIm1Oa
— ANI (@ANI) January 12, 2020
Golden Kayolaram, the fourth and the last apartment, declared illegal by the Supreme Court, will be demolished at 2 pm on Sunday.
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