Dust cloud, debris to be a health hazard after Noida Supertech’s twin towers demolition

The Supertech twin towers in Noida will be demolished on August 28 with the use of 3,700 kg of explosives into over 9,000 holes that have drilled into the towers’ concrete. While authorities seem to have fixed all arrangements for what will be India's highest structures ever to be demolished, the dark cloud of dust and pollution along with the explosion may be an uncontrollable beast.

Thousands of residents will be evacuated before the demolition takes place. Traffic in the area will be diverted for an hour and a half on the day of the blast.

Edifice Engineering, the company responsible for demolishing the 40-storey towers, has said they will create a controlled explosion. The area surrounding the site will be closed off with 225 tonnes of wired mesh. The waterfall implosion method will be used to bring down the towers and the buildings will collapse inward within a few minutes.


However, experts are getting increasingly worried about the health hazards. The demolition will create a gigantic dust cloud and smoke, putting people in surrounding areas at major health risk.

While surrounding buildings have been covered in construction safety nets, dust from various demolition activities release wide range of particle sizes and material types and can cause both serious health problems ranging from eye irritation, nose, mouth and respiratory system, according to the Guidelines on Environmental Management of Construction and Demolition Waste by the Central Pollution Control Board.

"The larger heavier particles settle out of the air quickly and are a hazard to the operators of plant and equipment and those in the immediate vicinity. The smaller particles (usually invisible) can be transported further in the air and can cause health hazards beyond the plant premise (several km away)," the guidelines said.

Many experts are also of the belief that the fast-paced nature of the demolition too is a concern as the fugitive dust emissions are going to be huge.

While residents will be allowed to enter their premises once the dust cloud has dissipated completely, those suffering from breathing issues have been suggested to come back after a few days.

“Because a large amount of concrete will be blasted, there certainly will be a high concentration for PM10 for a few days. PM 2.5 levels will be impacted, but more PM 10 will be released. Because it is concrete, coarser particles are going to be emitted more,” Dr Sachchida Nand Tripathi, a senior professor of civil engineering at IIT Kanpur, who has also worked extensively on air pollution, told The Quint.

He said pollution levels will remain high for a week.

Edifice Engineering will have to submit reports on air quality and dust to Uttar Pradesh Pollution Control Board for a week post the demolition. The UPPCB will on its part also increase the frequency of air monitoring.