NOIDA (Reuters) - In a suburb of the Indian capital New Delhi, the evacuation of thousands of residents has started in a neighborhood where two large flats under construction will be blown up. The Twin Towers in Noida are 100 meters high and will be destroyed with 3500 kilograms of explosives in a few seconds on Sunday, according to schedule, because they were built without a permit. In the vicinity of the illegal properties, there are concerns about the dust that the operation will add to the already heavily polluted air.
Local media are reassuring concerned citizens in nearby New Delhi with weather forecasts. It will remain dry and the wind is not expected to be in the direction of the capital. Dry weather would be good for such controlled blasts. Moreover, the demolition is carried out by specialists.
The head of the engaged South African company Jet Demolitions, Joe Brinkmann, is already proud and looking forward to work. "It will be an amazing feat of engineering," he told Indian media. And he is convinced that with the expertise of the demolition contractors, the adjacent buildings do not have to fear any damage. According to Brinkmann, the nearest adjacent plot is nine meters away, but according to him that is not a problem and the dust settles within 10 minutes and then no longer poses any danger to people, animals or plants. The municipality of Noida is cleaning it up again. India's Twin Towers are blown up after a legal battle started by local residents. A building permit had been issued for the site for the construction of six hundred apartments, but the builders turned out to have much bigger plans. They built the Twin Towers with 1650 apartments. In the end, the Indian Supreme Court ruled that the flats should not remain there.