The demolition of Supertech's twin towers in Noida, Uttar Pradesh, has left a ripple of excitement among residents and locals in the national capital region. The area has been declared a no-fly zone ahead of the August 28 demolition restricting the use of drones to film footage of the much-awaited razing.
The nearly 100-metre tall towers, located in the Emerald Court's premises and have earned the title of being Noida's very own 'twin towers', a-l-a its similarity to its former namesake in New York, are set to be razed on Sunday. Both the illegal Supertech towers, Apex and Ceyane, have been rigged with 3,700 kgs of explosives.
Why the Supertech twin towers are being blown up
The towers, taller than Delhi's iconic Qutub Minar, that came up illegally in the compound of the Emerald Court in Noida's Sector 93A are set to be razed to ground at 2.30 pm on Sunday. The demolition comes in pursuance of a Supreme Court order that found the structures to be illegal and built in violation of norms.
The ‘Supertech Emerald Court’ housing society was proposed in 2004 and approved by the Noida authorities which allotted it 48,263 sq m of land for the project. The plan for the society originally included 14 nine-floor tall towers. By 2012, the area of land allotted had increased as well as the number of towers and the project now included the 40-floor tall twin towers and a space for a shopping mall. The towers was deemed illegal by Allahabad High Court but construction continued. In 2022, the Supreme Court upheld Allahabad HC's demolition order.
Why the demolition has become the talk of the town
As per officials handling the razing project, the Supertech towers will become India's tallest structures to be safely demolished by implosion technique in pursuance of a Supreme Court order. The razing has led to excitement and a reported "fear of the unknown" among local residents of Sector 93A, many of whom have expressed concerns about the fallout of the demolition. The razing of the Apex and Ceyane towers is expected to leave behind a whopping 55,000 tonnes (35,000 cubic metres) of debris, making it one of the biggest generators of urban demolition waste in the area. As per the project planners, a large part of the debris would be accommodated in the basement of the towers while the remaining would be moved out to an isolated location within Noida and processed scientifically. This means that around 1,200 to 1,300 “truck-loads” of debris would have to be moved out from the site manually. Clouds of dust will also have to be dissipated.
5,000 residents impacted
The demolition has a direct impact on almost 5,000 residents of Emerald Court and ATS Village in Sector 93A, the two societies that are located just metres away from the demolition site and will be the most impacted. Locals living in the neighbourhoods claim that these days the demolition is the only topic of discussion for them and it has been like this since the last few weeks.
According to officials overseeing the evacuation preparations, all residents 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.
According to the Emerald Court residents' association, many of the residents have been offered shelter in community clubs and even homes of neighbours living in adjoining Parsvnath Srishti, Parsvnath Prestige and Eldeco Utopia housing societies. While some residents are considering the compassionate offer, PTI reported that a large number of them are planning to move to their relatives' homes in Delhi, Noida, Gurugram, and Ghaziabad even as some have planned to go on a vacation to places like Uttarakhand and Rajasthan among others.
(With inputs from PTI)
