From 9 years to 9 seconds: 10 things to know about Noida Supertech’s twin tower demolition

India

oi-Madhuri Adnal

New Delhi, Aug 28: The stage is set for the safe demolition of Supertech’s twin towers here this afternoon in what is expected to be a breathtaking spectacle of engineering to raze to the ground the nearly 100-metre-tall structures borne out of corruption. The apex court has termed the construction as illegal and in serious violation of the UP Apartments Act 2010 while directing the Noida authority and Supertech to demolish the structure at its own cost which is estimated to be Rs 20 crore.

Noida demolition: Supertech’s twin towers all set to be razed to the ground today

Here are 10 things to know about Noida Supertech’s twin tower demolition

1. The towers — both taller than Delhi’s iconic Qutub Minar, Noida twin towers- Apex (32 floors) and Ceyane (29 floors)– will be brought down in less than 9 seconds by waterfall implosion technique. They will be the tallest structures yet in India to be demolished. One building has an altitude of 103 metres while the other stands at 97 meters.
2. Over 3,700 kg explosives will be used to bring down the structures in pursuance of a Supreme Court order that found their construction within the Emerald Court society premises in violation of norms.
3. The closest buildings next to twin towers are Aster 2 and Aster 3 of Emerald Court society which are just nine metres away. The demolition would be done in a manner so as not to cause any structural damages to other buildings. They have been covered in a special cloth to minimise dust penetration. To bring it all together, 20,000 circuits have been set.
4. Fifteen minutes before the blast i.e. at 2.15 pm, traffic on the Greater Noida Expressway will be halted as it falls within the 450-km no-go zone.
5. Vibrations after the blast will be felt up to 30 metres, but only for a few seconds, that too at just about 30 mm/second. In simpler words, that’s equal to an earthquake of 0.4 on the Richter Scale. Noida routinely gets minor tremors, and structures built as per norms here can withstand a Richter Scale-6 earthquake.
6. The gas and power supply will be cut at 9 am for the neighbouring residential societies.
7. Only six people including Joe Brinkkman (head of the explosive operations), Mayur Mehta, Marthinus Botha, Kevin Smit, Chetan Dutta and a police official will be present there, sources told Firstpost.
8. The debris, of course, will take much longer to clear – up to three months for the 55,000 tonnes (or 3,000 trucks). It’ll be dumped at some designated areas in the region.
9. Around 5,000 residents of Emerald Court and adjoining ATS Village societies in Sector 93A have to vacate their premises by 7 am on Sunday while also removing nearly 3,000 vehicles and taking away 150-200 pets, including cats and dogs, with them for the day. Several of them left on Saturday itself, with some going to relatives’ or friends’ places in Delhi-NCR only while some driving out to Uttarakhand and Rajasthan on short vacations.
10. It took 9 years for a final court verdict that came in August 2021. Residents of Supertech Emerald Court society first moved court in 2012, after these towers were finally approved as part of a revised building plan. They said these were hemming them in. There were illegalities in the approvals too, for which some officials were later punished. The Allahabad High Court ordered the demolition in 2014. The case went to the Supreme Court for a final decision. Last August, the court gave three months to demolish the towers but it’s taken a year due to technical difficulties.