Manas Dasgupta
NEW DELHI, Aug 28: The twin towers in Noida at Delhi’s order in Uttar Pradesh, now also called the “towers of corruption” built illegally by realty firm Supertech Ltd. and were taller than the iconic “Kutub Minar,” were brought down within nine seconds using “waterfall implosion technique” at 2.30 p.m. on Sunday with more than 3,700 kg of explosives in a breath-taking spectacle of modern day engineering
Neighbouring residents as well as people who had travelled from various place outside Noida witnessed the demolition of the tallest structure in India.
The blast caps a nine-year legal battle between residents of Supertech Emerald Court in Sector 93A and the realtor over the two towers and a year after the Supreme Court gave its final verdict to the builders, demolish the illegal construction that had cost the builders over Rs 500 crores.
The 100-metre tall twin towers’ demolition went according to plan,” said a top official in charge of the operation, adding that a boundary wall and some glass windows were damaged at a neighbouring society as the towers came down.
“A 10-metre boundary wall collapsed and some glass windows were shattered at ATS village. Supertech Emerald (another neighbouring society) did not suffer any damage,” said DCP S Rajesh, commander of the demolition operation.
The demolition exercise took place under a ₹ 100 crore insurance policy. This will cover damage to adjacent buildings, if any. The premium and other costs have to be borne by Supertech. The cost of the demolition itself is estimated at about ₹ 20 crore.
Ahead of the court-mandated implosion of the buildings, heavy police force was deployed in the area where authorities had also stationed water tankers and anti-smog guns. The roads in and around the twin towers were heavily barricaded with authorities not allowing any vehicles there. The Noida-Greater Noida Expressway was also shut between 2:15 pm to 2:45 pm, officials said. Officials also performed puja in the morning to ensure safe demolition of the buildings.
A timeline of key events of the developments ending with the demolition on Sunday show that the project was initiated in 2004 when Supertech got land allotted for developing a group housing project by Noida Authority in city’s Sector 93A after which work started on ‘Emerald Court’ society.
2005: Building plan for Emerald Court approved by Noida Authority. Permission to construct 14 residential towers of 10 floors.
2006: Supertech seeks more land for the project and gets approval from Noida Authority. Building plan amended to accommodate one more residential tower – total 15 now. Aster 1 to 8, Aspire 1 to 4 and Emperor 1 to 3.
2009: Developer gets building plan revised once again. Adds two more towers – Apex and Ceyane –with 24 floors and immediately begins construction. Some residents object to it, citing violation of building norms. Just about 40-50 residents were living in Emerald Court at the time.
2012: Developer revised building plan to increase number of floors to 40 in Apex and Ceyane as construction continued full swing.
December 2012: Emerald Court residents’ association moves Allahabad High Court. Cite lack of residents’ consent for new towers within same housing complex, violation of rules like minimum 16 metre distance between buildings and the new construction coming up in area marked for green space.
2014: Allahabad High Court orders demolition of twin towers. Pulls up Noida Authority for collusion with developer. Construction work stops at site.
May 2014: Supertech moves Supreme Court seeking relief and states all approvals taken. August 31, 2021: Supreme Court orders demolition within three months, observing violation of building norms in collusion with local officials. Remarks that illegal construction has to be dealt with strictly to ensure compliance with the rule of law.
February 2022: Noida Authority informs Supreme Court demolition to take place on May 22. May 17, 2022: Supreme Court extends demolition deadline to August 28. The Emerald Court housing complex developed by Supertech with 15 towers has around 650 flats. If permitted, the demolished Apex and Ceyane towers would have added 915 more flats and 21 shops within the same housing complex. More than two-thirds of the 9oo plus flats were booked or sold. The Supreme Court has ordered the developer to provide a refund with interest to those who had bought flats in the structure.
Even after the demolition, the builder Supertech maintained that the twin towers were constructed as per the building plan approved by Noida development authorities and no deviations were made. Supertech added that the demolition of these two towers will not impact its other real estate projects, which will be delivered to homebuyers.
“The Twin Towers Apex and Ceyane in Noida are a part of the Emerald Court project at Sector 93A constructed on land allotted by Noida authority. The building plans of the Project including the two towers were approved by the Noida Authority in 2009 which was strictly in accordance with the then prevailing Building Bye laws announced by the State Government,” Supertech Ltd said in a statement.
No deviation from the building plan was made and it was constructed after making full payment to the authority, it added. “However, the Hon’ble Supreme Court has not found the construction satisfactory on technical grounds and accordingly issued orders to demolish the two towers. We respect the orders of the Supreme Court and are committed to implement the same,” Supertech said.
The demolition done, the next challenge for Noida authorities will be to clean the mountain of debris generated due to the demolition. Officials involved with the operation had earlier said about 55,000 tonnes of debris would be generated. It may take as many as three months to clear the debris. The waste will be dumped at designated areas.
The area had been evacuated hours ahead of the blast and measures put into place to ensure that adjoining structures are not affected by the explosion. Traffic diversions were planned and guidelines laid down to tackle any emergency.
The two towers were rigged with over 3,700 kg of explosives. Explosives were inserted into nearly 7,000 holes in the pillars of the buildings and 20,000 circuits were set. The blast was planned to ensure that the towers fall straight down in what is called the “waterfall technique”.
About 7,000 residents of the area were moved out this morning. Gas and power supply in the adjoining buildings had been suspended and were restored in the evening. Police have asked residents to wear masks indoors when they are allowed back into their homes to guard against the dust.
Some of the adjoining buildings are as close as 8 metres to the twin towers. There are others within a 12-metre radius. They were covered by a special cloth to minimise dust penetration. The area was declared a no-fly zone of one-nautical mile.
Mumbai-based company Edifice Engineering was tasked with demolishing the two towers. The firm, which has carried out such demolitions elsewhere, worked with the Central Building Research Institute and the Noida authorities to bring the towers down.
Water sprinklers and anti-smog guns were activated at the site soon after the demolition to help contain the dust, an official said.
Supertech said it has incurred a loss of about ₹ 500 crore, including construction and interest costs, because of the demolition of its twin towers in Noida.
“Our overall loss is around ₹ 500 crore, taking into account the amount we have spent on land and construction cost, the charges paid to authorities for various approvals, interest paid to banks over the years and the 12 per cent interest paid back to buyers of these two towers, among other costs,” Supertech’s chairman RK Arora said.
“We have completed and given delivery of more than 70,000 units to homebuyers and are committed to give delivery to remaining homebuyers as per schedule time frame. We assure all our home buyers that the order of Supreme Court will not affect any other ongoing project and all other projects will continue.” In August last year, the Supreme Court had ordered demolition of the twin towers, which have over 900 flats.
The demolition of Supertech’s twin towers in Noida is a lesson for all stakeholders in the real estate industry that accountability will be fixed if they violate building laws, according to industry leaders. The state regulatory authorities under the Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act, 2016 should be more empowered to take action against defaulters and protect consumers interest, they added.
Homebuyers’ body FPCE on Sunday termed the demolition of Supertech’s twin towers in Noida as a huge victory for flat owners and said it had also demolished the ego of builders and development authorities. The Forum For People’s Collective Efforts (FPCE), an umbrella body of homebuyers that played an important role in enactment and implementation of real estate law RERA, added that the responsibility of development authorities should have been fixed in this case.
“My first reaction when the demolition happened is that it was the demolition of not just the building but also the builders’ and the authorities’ ego and complacency that they could do as they please,” FPCE President Abhay Upadhyay said.