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Nine seconds is all it took for the Supertech twin towers in Noida’s sector 93A to crumble to the ground. Delayed for months, the demolition finally took place, in line with the directions of the Supreme Court, on Sunday for violating set rules, building regulations and fire safety norms.
As the towers came down at exactly 2.30 pm, after months of preparation, a plume of dust engulfed the area for 15 minutes.
Minor damage was incurred in the adjacent society. In a statement, the Noida Authority said, “A team from the Noida Authority and Edifice Engineering inspected the spot and found that no damage/defect had been incurred by the structures of Emerald Court and ATS Village. 10 metres of the boundary wall of ATS Village has been damaged and a few glass panes have broken. This will be repaired as soon as possible… The demolition process took less than 10 seconds. A plume of smoke and dust rose after the buildings were demolished, and its impact was felt for 10 minutes… The authority used tankers and sweeping machines to clean the dust that settled on the roads.”
“It was a safe and successful demolition. We are inspecting the site to check for any damages outside the building. We believe everything was done in a careful manner,” Joint Commissioner Love Kumar said.
It took nearly 37,000 kg of explosives to bring the two towers down. What is left behind now is 80,000 tonnes of construction and demolition waste, of which 50,000-55,000 tonnes will be used for filling at the site. The rest has to be sent to a construction and demolition waste processing plant. This exercise has to be completed within three months and Ramky Group has been assigned the task.
Within minutes of the demolition, dust control measures such as anti-smog guns and water tankers were pressed into service. According to the Air Quality Monitoring station at Sector 125 Noida, there was no change in the AQI value (122) between 2 pm and 3 pm, despite the dust that generated from the site after the demolition.
Supertech had handed over the mega project to Edifice Engineering, a Mumbai-based firm that partnered with South Africa-based Jet Demolition.
At a press conference in the evening, Jigar Chedda, partner at Edifice, said: “One side of the ATS building compound wall has been damaged but it’s minor. There’s no rubble on the main road. We also checked the crack gauges on neighbouring buildings. There’s not much change. The buildings are fine.”
Joe Brinkmann from Jet Demolitions said: “Our priority was that nobody gets hurt. There’s no damage from ground vibration or structural issues. We had suspicions since one of the buildings is just 9 metres away but there’s no damage. Our largest challenge was the robust structure of the twin towers. We are very happy with the results. There was one wall that was damaged but nothing else was affected. Everything worked out. We had a challenge as we only has 6 months.”
Residents of Emerald Court, who had gone to court against the construction of the two towers, as well as those from the neighbouring ATS Village were asked to evacuate their houses by 7 am on Sunday.
Early in the morning, cars streamed out of the Supertech Emerald Court complex – which the twin towers are a part of – and the neighbouring ATS Greens Village as the last remaining residents evacuated their homes. A majority of residents had left the previous night. While many residents headed to relatives or friends’ homes, some spent the day at the Parsvnath Prestige residential complex, which neighbours the ATS Greens Village complex.
As the towers came down, residents in the Parsvnath Prestige residential complex, many of whom owned flats in the Supertech project, broke into cheers, celebrating their win against the builder after a 9-year long court battle.
The day, though meticulously planned, was hectic amid the police presence and high security arrangements. Though locals were advised to stay away from the ‘exclusion zone’, many of them rushed to the Jaypee Flyover and Sector 93 chowk to witness the spectacle. Many of the families also set up camp at the Sector 93-A park.
Vipin Kumar, a resident of Swarnim Vihar, said, “I have seen residents and others struggling to get the building razed for a decade. I came with RWA members and my friends to see it. In less than 10 seconds, the building vanished.”
A glass-manufacturing unit owner, Sushil Kumar Nigam came with his brothers and children to see the explosion. “It’s a win for all of us. My childhood friend Mahendra Jain took this matter to the court and fought for years. He’s no more but his work paid off. This is bigger than any festival for us. A clear message has been sent.”
More than 500 policemen, 100 firefighters, 70 RRF personnel and NDRF teams guarded all the streets near the building. At 2 pm, Noida Police Commissioner Alok Singh, Joint CP Love Kumar, DM Subhas LY and Noida CEO Ritu Maheshwari came to the Jaypee Flyover in an ‘Incident Command Centre’ van.
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