The “illegal and unauthorised construction raised by DLF” on the banks of Chilavannur River should be demolished and modern techniques such as implosion could be used to bring down the structure, according to the Kerala Coastal Zone Management Authority (KCZMA).
In its additional affidavit filed before the Supreme Court, the authority also listed out the possible methods for implosion and the restoration of the area to its original character.
It may be recalled that the Division Bench had slapped a fine of ₹1 crore on the builder, while upholding the Single Judge's order that various provisions of the CRZ were violated by DLF on its Chilavannoor site. The authority and others had challenged the order in Supreme Court.
The KCZMA detailed the implosion technologies available in India in its appeal against the order of the Division Bench that the “demolition of the illegal structure would cause greater harm to the surrounding environment.”
The “demolition using the latest technology will pave way for restoring the project area to a waterbody. The waterbody will be part of the Vembanad ecosystem. The technology viable for demolition included controlled blasting or implosion technology,” said the affidavit filed by Padma Mahanti, the Member Secretary, KCZMA.
Modern techniques weaken or remove “critical supports of the buildings so that it can no longer withstand the force of gravity and falls under its own weight. Implosion technique is adopted for tall buildings in urban areas where the other demolition techniques are not feasible,” it stated.
The “blasters will explode the major support columns of the lower floors first and then a few upper stories. In most cases, blowing the support structures on the lower floors is sufficient for collapsing the building but loading columns on the upper floors helps break the building materials into smaller pieces as it falls, This makes for a perfect demolition and easier clean up,” it said.
Explosives such as dynamites, PETN and RDX are the commonly used explosives for demolition, it said.
The Division Bench, the affidavit said, had acknowledged the various Coastal Regulation Zone violations committed by the DLF at its Chilavannur project. The Bench had also accepted in toto the findings of the Single Judge regarding the violations. However, it erroneously set aside the Single Judge’s order for “demolishing the entire illegal and unauthorised structure while directing the authorities to regularise the construction under the CRZ notification,” it said.
While stating that the project area fell under the CRZ 1 area before it was illegally reclaimed by the DLF, the KCZMA pointed out that the reclamation of land is a prohibited activity under the CRZ notifications and cannot be regularised. The only “consequence thereof would be to demolish the illegal structure,” it said.
