With only hours left for the demolition of Supertech’s 100 metre tall Twin Towers in Noida 93A, residents of the area are anxious of what’s in store for them as an aftermath.
The 40-storey Apex and Ceyane twin towers will be razed on Sunday at 2:30pm.
Residents of adjacent buildings, Supertech Emerald Court and ATS Greens Village, have been advised to vacate their apartments by 7am on Sunday morning. Elderly people have been advised to leave on Saturday. Electricity and water supply too will be cut to prevent any mishap.
In order to make the process of evacuation smooth, the RWA of Supertech Emerald Court has formed a task force of residents who have expertise in different fields such as the armed forces, medicine and civil engineering.
“They are all working in tandem with the RWA to make this as comfortable as possible for the others,” explains Deepak Gupta, a resident.
For safety, the residents are advised to unplug all their devices, close the taps and remove fragile objects from the walls.
Besides the buildings in close proximity to the twin towers, dust and pollution arising from the explosion might affect nearby Aster 2 and Aster 3, even breaking glass.
They have currently been swathed in a special cloth to prevent dust and debris from flying into the homes.
While some residents are travelling out for the weekend, others have staying over at a friend’s place or checked in at nearby hotels.
Ashutosh Kumar Sinha has booked a room for his elderly parents at Lemon Tree’s Sandal Suites.
Despite the trepidation, residents of Supertech are happy about the demolition, as this is a “battle won for a quality life”.
When they bought their apartments, they could say vast greenery from their balconies. As the towers started coming up, the residents objected, but they were told that it was happening on a neighbouring plot and was not in the control of the builders.
Meanwhile, authorities in Noida have reserved a parking space in Sector 92 and the multi-level parking near the Botanical Garden metro station for an estimated 2,500 cars that will have to be driven out of the area. Beds have also been reserved at Felix hospital for those who need medical care.
Two police vans have been taking rounds of the neighbouring Gejha village.
After the demolition, the area will be checked by the authorities before the residents are allowed back into their homes. They will be informed by their tower captains.
The tentative return time is 6pm. The residents are also advised to keep some N95 masks handy as the pollution level might go up for a few days after the demolition. Most of them are covering their balconies to avoid dust.
Deconstructing the demolition
The Supreme Court ordered the demolition of the structures in August 2021 as their construction violated the minimum distance requirement. According to the apex court, the buildings were built illegally without taking the consent of the individual flat owners as required under the UP Apartment Act.
The twin towers will be demolished, through implosion method, on 28 August at 2.30pm. It will take 9 seconds.
This is the biggest demolition in India in a densely populated area.
The demolition contract has been given to Edifice Engineering. Along with South Africa’s Jet Demolition, it has drilled around 10,000 holes on the Supertech twin tower buildings.
About 3,700 kg of explosives, brought from Palwal (Haryana), has been used. It is a mix of dynamite, emulsions and plastic explosives.
No vehicular traffic will be allowed at the time of demolition.
Fire tenders, water sprinklers and other personnel will be deployed to keep the dust at bay.
The razing of the Apex and Ceyane towers would leave behind 42,000 cubic metres of debris.
The debris will fill up around the tower and in the basement. The remainder would be moved out to an isolated location within Noida and processed scientifically. Some of the debris will also fall on the road near the tower.
Around 4,000 tonnes of iron scrap will be left after the demolition and Edifice will recover some of its cost by selling it.
It will take 90 days to clear the debris and 1,300 rounds of trucks to carry them.
At the time of demolition, the cloud of dust is likely to reach 300 metres above ground level and may take 10-15 minutes to settle.
The Noida Authority will share the air quality details to help residents with dealing with the situation regarding pollution.
The Noida Supertech twin towers were constructed at a cost of Rs 70 crore. The demolition will cost Rs 20 crore.
Edifice Engineering has secured a Rs 100-crore insurance cover for any damage in the vicinity area, if any.
About 100 workers are part of the demolition team. Blast expert Chetan Dutta will press the final button for the blast.
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