Twin towers demolition on August 28: 'No fly zone' for drones, other guidelines for nearby residents

No drones would be allowed to fly over the "exclusion zone" near Supertech's illegal twin towers in Noida, Sector 93A, during its demolition drive on August 28, officials told news agency PTI on Wednesday. Flying drones would only be allowed beyond the "exclusion zone" after getting permission by the local police in advance, they added.

In pursuance of a Supreme Court order, demolition would be done at 2.30 pm using a controlled implosion technique.

Over 3,500 kg of explosives would be used to raze the nearly 100-metre tall twin towers, according to officials of the demolition firm Edifice Engineering.

Exclusion zone

While all residents of two adjoining societies -- Emerald Court and ATS Village -- would be evacuated, an exclusion zone has been marked around the twin towers where no person, vehicle or animal would be allowed during the demolition process, the officials further stated.

"The exclusion zone will include an area of 450 metres in front side of the twin towers overseeing a road and a city park. On the other sides of the towers, the exclusion zone will be till 250 metres, Gautam Buddh Nagar's Deputy Commissioner of Police (Headquarters) Ram Badan Singh told PTI.

According to the evacuation plan, residents of Emerald Court and ATS Village would have to vacate the premises by 7.30 am on August 28 and can return after 4 pm only with safety clearance from Edifice.

Vehicles to be removed

"There are approximately 650 flats in Emerald Court and 450 flats in ATS Village. Both societies have a combined number of residents over 5,000 who will be required to move out as per schedule. There are around 1,200 vehicles in Emerald Court and 1,500 vehicles in ATS Village that will have to be moved outside. The Noida Authority will provide space for them in the multilevel parking facility at Botanical Garden metro station," a Noida Authority official told PTI.

The multi-level parking at Botanical Garden Metro station can easily accommodate more than 5,000 vehicles at a time, the official added.

Traffic movement

The exclusion zone also includes a patch of Noida-Greater Noida Expressway, where vehicular traffic would remain halted from 2.15 pm to 2.45 pm on August 28.

Fire tenders, ambulances, etc, required for emergency services, would be parked on the road constructed behind the park in front of the twin towers.

The razing of the Apex and Ceyane towers (taller than Delhi's iconic Qutub Minar) would leave behind a whopping 35,000 cubic metres of debris -- a large part of which would be accommodated in the basement of the towers while remaining would be moved out to an isolated location within Noida.

Ceyane is the smaller of the two towers and had 29 floors constructed when work was stopped on it. Apex is the taller tower with 32 floors constructed. Both the residential towers were supposed to have 40 storeys.

The demolition order of Supertech's twin towers comes as the Supreme Court found its structures "illegal and built-in violation of norms."

(With inputs from PTI)