Blast from the past: Watch how Kochi’s Maradu flats were demolished in 2020

New Delhi, Aug 26: With the demolition day of Supertech's illegal twin towers in Noida's Sector 93A drawing close and arrangements have been put in place for the residents of Emerald Court, let us rewind back to a demolition drive that took place in Kerala in 2020.

Two years ago, the Supreme Court had ordered demolition drive against four illegal waterfront apartment complexes in Kerala's Kochi district. The demolition drive of Kochi's Maradu illegal flats was completed with the last two high rises pulled down using controlled implosion method.

Maradu flats demolition, Kerala

Four apartment complexes in Kochi's Maradu in Kerala were razed down two years ago on January 12 affecting over 300 families. Explosives, weighing totally nearly 750 kgs, were used in a controlled manner to bring down the lakeside structures in Maradu.

Watch How Maradu flats were demolished

Kochi's H2O Holy Faith and Alfa Serene, spread in at least 800,000 square feet were first demolished in one of the largest demolition drives in the country involving residential buildings. Both the structures came crashing down in seconds, in a cloud of dust. Thousands of people watched the demolition from outside the demolition zone. The demolition was conducted, complying with the orders of the Supreme Court which held the structures to be illegal as they had been built in violation of the Coastal Regulation Zone norms.

#WATCH Maradu flats demolition: H2O Holy Faith apartment tower demolished through controlled implosion #Kerala pic.twitter.com/fKbciLGH14

— ANI (@ANI) January 11, 2020

The last of four illegal apartment complexes, 55-meter high 'Golden Kayaloram',was razed down through controlled implosion method, marking the completion of the demolition drive against the waterfront high rises ordered by the Supreme Court.

#WATCH Maradu flats demolition: Golden Kayalorum apartment demolished through a controlled implosion. All 4 illegal apartment towers have now been demolished. #Kerala pic.twitter.com/TBvHBjuIZR

— ANI (@ANI) January 12, 2020

The towering buildings that took several months to build collapsed inwards into a pile of rubble like a house of cards in seconds, triggering mammoth 'clouds' of dust. Just in a few seconds, the towering buildings became mounds of debris. Not a single window of the building suffered any crack in the explosion. That is the level of accuracy these technical experts have maintained," a police officer said lauding the companies involved in the work.

A total of 343 waterfront flats were built in the complexes, violating the Coastal Regulation Zone norms.