Chennai: A day before the scheduled demolition of the ill-fated Moulivakkam tower buildings, the top brass of the state led by housing secretary Dharmendra Pratap Yadav and Kancheepuram collector R. Gajalakshmi inspected the building on Tuesday.
The officials enquired about the stocked explosives and the public safety parameters in place at the site. C. Ponlingam, director, Maglink Infra Projects, (Firm, which has been awarded the contract to raze down the tower) said, explosives including lignite and gunpowder would be used to demolish the high-rise building.
“We are planning to start the ignition process by 4 pm. It will take hardly 15 seconds for the entire 11-storey structure to collapse. The entire process will be manned by a team of seven to nine personnel, trained in bringing down buildings and they will begin the work by 9 am,” he said.
“Last month, we brought down 996 flats constructed by Tamil Nadu Slum Clearance Board at Ukkadam in Coimbatore using the same technology. Our company has gained experiences by razing down multi storey structures in Bombay and Bangalore, there is nothing to panic,” he added.
Earlier in the day, Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority member secretary C. Vijayaraj Kumar also interacted with the police and CMDA officials on the arrangements in place ahead of demolition.
Meanwhile, revenue and police officials urged the local public residing near Moulivakkam site to move to a designated hall, where free transport and temporary arrangements have been made for public stay.
Blue Cross volunteers also visited the building site on Tuesday in search of stray animals for rescue. Supreme Court recently passed directions to demolish the building, which claimed lives of 61 workers.
In its status report, the CMDA submitted that the Supreme Court had ordered demolition of the existing unsafe building Block-A. Accordingly, the work of demolishing the building at a cost of Rs 49.95 lakh awarded to a contractor.
