We don't support landscape mode yet. Please go back to portrait mode for the best experience
Around 17 years ago in 2005, Noida-based builder Supertech launched a project called Emerald Court - a low-rise residential complex at Sector 93A. Four years after it was sold, the builder in an apparent FAR (floor area ratio) violation, decided to add two towers in the same complex, parallel to each other - Apex and Ceyane, which later came to be referred to as 'twin towers'.
The builder, without approval, raised the height to 40-storeys. At a bit over 100 meters, the towers stood slightly higher than Delhi's landmark Qutub Minar. The builder started marketing them as Noida's tallest. These were products of a pre-regulatory era when the Uttar Pradesh Real Estate Regulatory Act (UPRERA) had not come into force.
Flagging the series of violations, existing residents of low-rise Emerald Court apartment moved Allahabad High Court in 2009. A prolonged legal battle later, the court in 2014 ordered in favour of the residents that the project should be sealed and the towers demolished.
The case eventually moved to the Supreme Court. The apex court in August 2021 upheld the Allahabad High Court order and also asked the builder to refund all buyers who had booked flats in the twin towers.
Two companies at the helm of things for the twin tower demolition are Mumbai-based Edifice Engineering and Jet Demolition. Around 9,400 holes have been drilled into the structure of the building in which over 3,500 kgs of explosives are filled in a process called 'charging'.
The entire process had to be approved by the Central Building Research Institute (CBRI). The possible impact of the demolition of such a huge structure in the vicinity of other residential projects was also assessed.
The immediate impact of the blast is likely to be felt by the residents of ATS Village and Emerald Court. About 5,000 residents of these two neighbouring apartments have been asked to evacuate by 7:00 am on the demolition day.
Around 2,500 vehicles will be removed from the area.
The two towers will be blown up at 2:30 pm on August 28. The exercise will be carried out in less than 13 seconds by 6 men. The entire drill is expected to be over by 4:00 pm after which the residents of the two complexes will be allowed to return. Traffic movement too will resume after the demolition.
The process is estimated to generate some 55,000 tonnes of rubble and can take some 1,300 trucks to clean up. Clearing the area can take around three months even if the distribution of the debris to local landfill sites is carried out on a daily basis.
The coarse dust generated from the explosion is likely to impact local air quality levels. “The local site will be treated as a construction and demolition site and all pollution control norms adhering to dust mitigation will be applicable for the site,” Praveen Kumar, Regional Officer, Uttar Pradesh Pollution Control Board (UPPCB) told Business Today.