British-era boiler demolished to make way for township in Nagpur

Nagpur, Feb.18 (ANI): The 138-feet-tall boiler in Model Mill factory in Nagpur city was demolished on Thursday.

The British had built the Model Mill factory in 1929 to generate employment in the city. The factory was shut down in 2003, but the boiler stood firm in the middle of the city as a landmark of the bygone era.

The 80-year-old boiler is a testament to British engineering for it took four controlled explosions to demolish it. It was protected with jacketing and steel wires.

"We carried out four explosions in total to demolish the boiler and approximately 100- 125 kg of explosives were used. I used the same explosives that are used to blow mines, but there is lot of difference in the kind of explosions. In mines, the idea is to blow up maximum rocks but here it is exactly the opposite," said, Sharad Servate, an engineer.

Servate, who is a Limca-record holder, said that this is the tallest edifice that he ever demolished. (ANI)