Telangana: Secretariat blocks may be brought down through implosion

HYDERABAD: The existing Secretariat buildings will be flattened using implosion technique. Implosion allows controlled blasting of the structures. The high-level committee, appointed to study the Secretariat blocks, suggested the implosion technique to the state government as it is quick, safe and saves time compared to manual demolition.
The state government is awaiting the judgment of the high court, which is hearing petitions seeking restraint orders against demolition of ‘structurally-fit’ Secretariat buildings.If the verdict goes in the government’s favour, then the existing buildings will be demolished and construction of new Secretariat complex will start soon.

Experts, too, said the implosion technique was safer for urban environment and it ensures that neighbouring buildings are not affected. They added manual demolition may take months as there are 10 blocks and other mechanised demolition techniques are also time consuming.

Transport, roads and buildings principal secretary Sunil Sharma told TOI that implosion technique was one of the best methods available. “However, demolition can be taken up only if the high court verdict is in favour of the government,” he said.
Experts further said that implosion technique has been used across the world, but it has to be planned meticulously taking all the safety measures into account. “As part of the implosion technique, critical points in the buildings are identified and explosives are planted. Also, some of the columns and beams are cut to weaken the structure,” said NV Ramana Rao, director, National Institute of Technology, Warangal.
In 2017, the implosion technique was used to demolish a building in Madhapur. However, the building did not collapse and leaned to one side. The agency engaged by GHMC to demolish the structure had claimed that building plan was not provided to them and there were gaps in identifying the critical points to ensure that building collapsed down to its footprint.
Roads and buildings department engineer-in-chief I Ganapathi Reddy said though the implosion technique allows to raze a building to its footprints, a lot of planning and time was required to identify the critical points in the building, cut down some of the columns, beams and slab structure, study the construction and architecture plan, and planting of right kind of explosives was needed.
“It takes a month or more to mechanically and manually clear the debris. It is also proposed to make a 3D computer film to test implosion demolition plan,” an official said, adding that the film will be shown to chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao for a final decision.
However, V Srikanth of a city-based agency involved in demolition of buildings with implosion technique, has a word of caution. “The building plan, foundation, points of columns, beams and the quality and quantity of steel used in the building has to be studied properly. It has to be ensured that the entire building collapses as it will be dangerous to go inside the building if implosion results in partial demolition,” he said.