Gujarat: 85-Metre-Tall Cooling Tower Demolished In Surat. WATCH

A video of the 85-metre tall RCC tower of Utran Power Station being demolished amid a huge puff of dust has gone viral.

The 85-metre tall tower was brought down at around 11:10 am

A 30-year-old cooling tower located at the Utran Power Station in Gujarat's Surat was demolished through a controlled explosion on Tuesday. A video of the 85-metre tall RCC tower of Utran Power Station being demolished amid a huge puff of dust has gone viral on social media.

The tower, which was brought down at around 11.10 am, was made of reinforced concrete and had a diameter of approximately 72 meters. 

About 220 kg of commercial explosives were used for demolition, PTI quoted officials as saying. 

Upon triggering the blast, the tower came down within seven seconds and emitted a loud noise while sending up a huge layer of dust.

An approval was taken from the Central Electricity Authority in 2017 to scrap the gas-based power plant under government policy because of high production cost, which made it unviable, the official said.

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As a precautionary measure, the area around the blast site, which is situated on the banks of the Tapi river, was barricaded to keep people around 250-300 metres away from the tower.

The explosives were set up after drilling the column and the help of experts was taken for the whole exercise, an official told PTI.

"The tower was part of the 135-MW power plant of the Gujarat State Electricity Corporation and was used for cooling purposes. It was 85 metres in height, with a bottom diameter of 72 metres," said in-charge additional chief engineer, RR Patel.

Patel said the other plant of 375 MW capacity in the gas-based power plant was up and running.

"The razing of the tower, constructed in 1993, became necessary owing to techno-commercial reasons and the approval of the Central Electricity Authority was taken in 2017. In September 2021, the demolition process began, and the boiler, generator, turbine, and transformer were razed," PTI quoted Patel as saying.