Maradu blast was a clean one: Explosive expert

Kochi: R. Venugopal, the top explosion expert soon after three blocks of flats of two builders here were razed to dust on Saturday, told the media that everything went off according to the plan.

The three block of flats came down at 11.17 a.m, 11.42 and 11.43 a.m.

Venugopal who coordinated the entire blasts said that everything went off as planned.

"We even were able to bring down the intensity of the implosion and everything went off well," said Venugopal, adding that more details about it would be revealed in the afternoon.

"Everything is fine and there has been no damage at all in the nearby areas. We were confident that things would be fine," said an official attached to the Mumbai-based company that did the blast.

The demolition of these flats took place following the Supreme Court order after it was found to be violating the Coastal Regulation Zone directives.

Two more flats in the locality will be knocked down again on Sunday.

Local residents who returned to their homes expressed happiness.

"We were very concerned about the safety of our home and honestly we were scared. But after returning to our homes, we find that nothing has happened to our homes," said an elderly lady.

The experts who planned the implosion are now going around the places where the flats were razed down.

Fire tenders are now spraying water on the dust generated after the blast.

Concrete rubble has collected at the site where the three blocks stood till Saturday morning.

All the traffic curbs also have been lifted.