As authorities line up for the demolition of Noida's Supertech Twin Towers on August 28, which would make it the tallest structure to be razed in India, here are the details you need to know about the Twin Towers.
What are the Noida Twin Towers?
The Supertech Twin Towers are two 40-storey towers, known as Apex and Ceyane, which are located in Noida's Sector 93A. A part of Supertech's Emerald Court project in Noida, both the towers have over 900 flats, with a combined area of 7.5 lakh square feet.
Why are the towers being demolished?
Last August, the Supreme Court had directed for the demolition of the twin 40-storey towers of the realty major's Emerald Court project in Noida for violation of building by-laws "in collusion" with the authority officials.
The top court said the case record is replete with instances which highlight the collusion between authorities of Noida and Supertech Ltd and involvement of the planning authority with the developer in violation of laws.
The apex court directed that the entire amount of home buyers be refunded with 12 per cent interest from the time of the booking and the Residents Welfare Association be paid Rs 2 crore for the harassment caused due to the construction of the twin towers.
'Truth has prevailed,' claim residents
Following the apex court's verdict, the residents of Emerald Court heaved a sigh of relief since their decade-long legal battle came to an end.
Residents said that in 2009, work started on the two towers in the violation of building by-laws but they were told the construction was part of a separate project. “We, however, insisted on seeing drawings and approvals of the project which appeared to be huge and against rules stipulating a certain distance between two such structures."
“After several efforts, we got to see the drawings and were shocked after realising that we were being taken for a ride by the builder with a brazen violation of rules,” a resident told PTI.
When will the demolition take place?
The initial date for demolition, May 22, given by the Supreme Court was later moved to August 28 after it was informed that the test blast revealed that the structure was much stronger than anticipated. The demolition will be carried out by Edifice Engineering, a Mumbai-based firm and their South African partner Jet Demolitions.
How will the Towers be demolished?
The twin towers will be razed with explosives. The nearly 100-metre tall towers will become India's tallest structures to be safely demolished by implosion technique in pursuance of a Supreme Court order.
The rigging of both the illegal towers of Supertech in Noida with around 3,700 kg of explosives had been completed on August 21 for their scheduled demolition on August 28.
The charging process – placing of explosives – was completed on August 21 evening and the next procedure, known as trunking, was done the next day.
A total of 40 people, including blasters and trained workers, had started charging the towers together on August 13, according to an official of Edifice Engineering.
How long will the demolition take place?
The buildings measuring a little over 100 metres will literally collapse like a house of cards in a process that would take less than 15 seconds for them to come down, according to project officials.
"It will take nine to 10 seconds for all the explosives to blast in a series making a loud noise. After the blasts, the structures won't come down all at once and would take four to five seconds to come down completely," Edifice Engineering partner Utkarsh Mehta told PTI.
"The time for dust dissipation is estimated to be 10 minutes,” said Mehta, whose company has previously executed demolition of illegal residential complexes in Kerala's Maradu, Telangana's secretariat and central prison, and old Motera stadium in Gujarat, among others.
According to the estimates prepared by the project officials, the demolition of the Apex (32 storeys) and Ceyane (29 storeys) would leave behind approximately 35,000 cubic metres of debris to be cleared and clouds of dust to dissipate.
Noida Authority's General Manager (Planning) Ishtiaq Ahmed said 21,000 cubic metres of the debris would be moved out and dumped at an isolated land measuring five to six hectares in city's Work Circle-7 limits and the remaining would get accommodated in the basement areas of the twin towers where a pit has been made.
How will it impact the residents nearby?
According to officials overseeing the evacuation preparations, all residents of Emerald Court and ATS Village in Sector 93A, along with more than 150 pets, will have to vacate their homes by 7 am, while the security staff of these societies will also be moved out latest by 12 pm on Sunday.
Around 2,700 vehicles from both societies will also be removed.
The residents would be allowed to return after 4 pm only after safety clearance from officials.
(With agency inputs)