India demolishes skyscrapers that infringed environmental regulations

Officials decided to demolish 2 skyscrapers in India as they did not comply with the existing environmental codes.

The skyscrapers were located in the municipality of Maradu, in the Kerala state of India. They were residential buildings that consisted of about 340 apartments and hosted around 2,000 people.

The decision was made in May 2019 by the Supreme Court. The skyscrapers were constructed very close to lakeside and it was found that environmental laws concerning building within a certain radius from coastal areas were violated. According to KCZMA (Kerala Coastal Zone Management Authority), no permission was granted to the buildings that were only approved by local authorities. KCZMA points out that the nearby region is vulnerable and no structures may be established.

The Supreme Court also emphasized the importance of implementing environmental regulations. Kerala experienced extreme flooding 2 years ago and, according to the court, it was mainly caused by "the entire environment being degraded and coastal zones being illegally occupied".

Residents vehemently protested against the decision and when they ran out of legal choices, many began hunger strikes to prevent the inevitable blasting. Nevertheless, all of them evacuated their houses after authorities shut down the electricity supply. 

Shamshudeen Karunagapally, a resident stated that his family could not watch the demolition as it was "too painful for them to see their dreams shatter before their eyes".

The demolition was conducted on January 11 and 12, 2020. The first 19-story building came crashing down in a controlled blast that lasted just a few seconds. The spectacular event attracted people that witnessed the collapse of the structure and recorded the footage (watch the video below). 2,000 people that live in the nearby area were evacuated for safety purposes.

People living nearby the skyscrapers were troubled about the impact of the blast on their buildings' integrity. One of them stated that, during the swimming pool demolition, cracks appeared in some of the nearby buildings and residents were placed at temporary accommodation.