India high-rise towers demolished for violating laws

Two high-rise apartment towers in India were leveled to the ground in a controlled demolition on Sunday after the country's top court declared them illegal for violating building norms.

More than 1,500 families had vacated their apartments in the area more than seven hours before the nearly 100-meter-tall towers crumbled inward by the impact of the implosion. The 32-story and 29-story towers were India's tallest structures to be razed to the ground. They were being constructed by a private builder in Noida city on the outskirts of New Delhi and were yet to be occupied. The Court said the construction of the two towers also was illegal because the builder did not receive mandatory consent from other apartment owners in the area. Residents are expected to be able to return to the area later on Sunday after experts examine the impact of the demolition. The tallest building demolished in the world with explosives to date was 165 meters tall. That event occurred in Abu Dhabi, in the United Arab Emirates, on 27 November, 2020, according to Guinness World Records.