Noida twin towers demolition live | Supertech buildings brought down; company says it lost ₹500 crore

The twin towers in Noida, built illegally by realty firm Supertech Ltd., were brought down within nine seconds around 2.30 p.m. on August 28 with more than 3,700 kg of explosives.

Neighbouring residents as well as people who had travelled from various place outside Noida witnessed and cheered the demolition from the roofs of the nearby buildings.

Also read: Noida twin towers demolition: Timeline of key events

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 is 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.

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Noida

Noida twin towers demolition: timeline of key events

Supertech’s twin towers in Noida were safely demolished on Sunday. The demolition came in pursuance of a Supreme Court order of August 31, 2021 which found that the nearly 100-metre-tall structures had come up in the premises of Emerald Court housing society in violation of building norms.

The proposed premium residential twin towers with space for commercial activities were built by real estate developer Supertech Group after approvals from the New Okhla Industrial Development Authority (NOIDA), popularly referred to as the Noida Authority, which was constituted under the U.P. Industrial Development Act and functions under the State government.

A timeline of key events related to twin towers demolition: 2004: Supertech gets 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.

August 28, 2022: Twin towers demolished. 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 and that too in violation of building norms. – PTI

Noida

Supertech says it lost ₹500 crore

Realty firm Supertech Ltd has incurred a loss of about ₹500 crore, including construction and interest costs, because of the demolition of its twin towers in Noida, the company’s Chairman R.K. Arora said on Sunday.

The nearly 100-metre-tall twin towers — Apex and Ceyane — were demolished at 2.30 p.m. on Sunday as per a Supreme Court order that found their construction within Emerald Court premises in violation of norms. More than 3,700 kgs of explosives were used in this operation. The cost of the demolition itself is estimated at about ₹20 crore.

“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% interest paid back to buyers of these two towers, among other costs,” Mr. Arora told PTI.

These twin towers were part of Supertech’s Emarald Court project at Sector 93 A on Noida Expressway. The current market value of over 900 apartments in the two towers is being estimated at over ₹700 crore. – PTI

Noida

Noida twin tower demolition: Last moments of evacuation and a sleeping man!

Ahead of Noida twin towers’ demolition, a special task force – a core team of seven members – of Emerald Court pulled off the evacuation of all residents of the society in an exercise meticulously planned over a month’s time.

The residents of the society, where the illegal twin towers were also located, had started moving out from Friday itself .Those who had to leave Noida left earlier while those planning to accommodate themselves in nearby locations waited till Sunday morning.

The Supertech twin towers in Noida were demolished on Sunday, a year after the Supreme Court’s direction to raze the illegally built structures to the ground.

Emerald Court has 15 residential towers, each having 44 apartments and total around 2,500 residents and 1,200 vehicles. The special task force comprised seven members who are resident of the society. Besides the STF, the society also had a ‘captain’ for each of the 15 towers.

By 7 a.m., almost all of the residents, including children and senior citizens, had vacated the 15 residential premises in a well-coordinated exercise by the society’s special task force.

Emerald Court’s Gaurav Mehrotra headed the task force team that also had Avinash Rai, Amit Arora, Colonel (retd) Rajesh Kashyap, Wing Commander (retd) Mohit Garg, Anil Saxena besides Naresh Keswani. But a little after 7 am, a security guard raised alarm to the special task force about a person being inside a top floor apartment of a tower who appeared to have not vacated! “We got to know about it because of our double verification process for evacuation. It turned out that of all residents of the towers, one had not left. This resident, it turned out was fast asleep inside apartment and totally missed the evacuation deadline,” Naresh Keswani, a member of the special task force, told PTI.

“Somehow, the security guards managed to wake him up and he was also evacuated at just around 7 am,” Mr. Keswani said. – PTI

Noida

Demolition of twin towers lesson for all stakeholders, say industry experts

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.

Supertech’s twin towers Apex and Ceyane — part of its Emerald Court project in Noida — were safely demolished on Sunday, a year after the Supreme Court had ordered their razing. More than 3,700 kgs of explosives were used in the massive exercise.

“This decision is symbolic of the New India that we are living in, which is all about best practices, governance and following the law. We stand by the authorities and Supreme Court in this decision,” CREDAI (National) President Harsh Vardhan Patodia told PTI. – PTI

Noida

Demolition of twin towers also demolishes ego of builders, authorities: Homebuyers’ body

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 has 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.

In August last year, the Supreme Court had ordered demolition of the 40-storey twin towers (Apex and Ceyane), which were part of Supertech’s Emerald Court project in Noida, Uttar Pradesh. There were over 900 flats in these two towers with height of around 100 metres.

“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 told PTI. – PTI

Noida | 2.30 p.m.

Noida Supertech twin towers razed to ground

 The Supertech twin towers in Noida were demolished on Sunday, a year after the Supreme Court’s direction to raze the illegally built structures to the ground.

The nearly 100-metre-high structures – taller than Delhi’s iconic Qutub Minar (73 metres) – were brought to the ground in seconds literally like a house of cards by the ‘waterfall implosion’ technique, in a breathtaking spectacle of modern day engineering.

They were the tallest structures to be demolished in India.

The Apex (32 floors) and Ceyane (29 floors) towers were under construction since 2009 within the Supertech Emerald Court housing society in Sector 93A of Noida, adjoining the national capital of Delhi.

Over 3,700 kg of explosives were used in the implosion that brought down the building.  – PTI

Agra

To fulfil grandson’s wish, family travels from Agra to witness twin tower demolition in Noida

Riyaz and his wife have travelled 200 km from Agra in the heat to fulfil their five-year-old grandson’s wish of witnessing the ‘historic’ demolition of Supertech twin towers in Noida on Sunday. His grandson saw a video on Facebook about the demolition and had been pressing his family ever since to take him to watch the court-mandated demolition of the nearly 100-metre tall illegal structures scheduled to take place at 2.30 p.m. Riyaz was among many other people who travelled to Noida from far-flung areas to watch the demolition of the structures despite restrictions on civilians from entering the area.

Riyaz and his family started early on Sunday morning from Agra but after entering the city, they were stopped by police from reaching the area near the twin towers as civilians are not allowed there. “We cannot say no to Akram (grandson). He is the youngest and most pampered child in our house. We wanted to fulfil all his wishes,” Riyaz (49) said. They said they will stay with their youngest son who works in Delhi.

After being stopped by the police, the family said they will be back after some time. – PTI

Noida | 1.58 p.m.

Wind direction changes ahead of demolition

The wind direction around the Supertech twin towers in Noida on Sunday changed towards east ahead of their demolition, which will make dust particles drift towards Greater Noida and Bulandshahr instead of Delhi, officials said.

For the last one week, the direction of wind was towards the west but the change was sudden, Regional Officer, Uttar Pradesh Pollution Control Board, Praveen Kumar said.

“The wind direction today is towards the east. It is expected that dust particles in the aftermath of the demolition would go towards Greater Noida and Bulandshahr,” Mr. Kumar said.

According to the officials, a wind direction towards the west would have been more favourable as the dust cloud and particles would have flown towards an open park instead of the residential parks behind the twin towers.

Besides a huge pile of debris, a major dust cloud is expected in the wake of the demolition at 2.30 pm. It would take at least 10 minutes for the dust cloud to dissipate, the officials said. 

Noida

Supertech says twin towers constructed as per building plan approved by Noida Authority

Realty firm Supertech on Sunday said the twin towers set to be demolished this afternoon 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 nearly 100-metre-tall Apex and Ceyane towers are scheduled to be demolished at 2.30 pm on Sunday in pursuance of a Supreme Court order that found their construction within Emerald Court premises in violation of norms. More than 3,700 kgs of explosives are being used in this operation.

“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 Apex Court and are committed to implement the same,” Supertech said.

The company has awarded the work of demolition to a world renowned agency Edifice Engineering which has expertise in carrying out safe demolitions of high-rise buildings, the statement said. – PTI

Noida

40 stray dogs shifted; admin urged to hold ‘dummy explosion’ to save birds

At least 40 stray dogs living in and around the Supertech twin towers in Uttar Pradesh’s Noida have been shifted temporarily to shelters run by NGOs ahead of the court-mandated implosion of the buildings on Sunday.

An NGO has also requested authorities to conduct a dummy explosion or a false firing just before the twin towers are razed in order to save the birds in the area.

Several NGOs, including House of Stray Animals, Friendicoes, Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) and Happy Tails foundation have pitched in to accommodate the stray dogs temporarily. – PTI

Noida

Power, gas supply shut

The supply of cooking gas and power has also been discontinued in the two societies in Sector 93A in view of the implosion planned at 2.30 p.m. on Sunday, an official overseeing the evacuation exercise said.

“The evacuation has been completed. The cooking gas and electricity supplies have been discontinued. They will be resumed after security clearance post demolition later,” a police officer told PTI .

The deserted roads in Noida ahead of the demolition of the Twin Towers on Sunday.
| Photo Credit: Shiv Kumar Pushpakar

Besides the residents, their vehicles and pets have also been moved out, the official added. However, private security and some representatives of residents’ group will stay within the societies till around 1 p.m. after which both premises would be totally vacant, the officer said.

The demolition of the two illegally built towers is scheduled for 2.30 p.m. – PTI

Noida

Around 500 police, traffic personnel deployed at site

Around 500 police and traffic personnel besides the Provincial Armed Constabulary (PAC) have been deployed at the area around the twin towers.

DCP Rajesh S, who is the police’s incident commander for overseeing the evacuation exercise, said, “Around 400 civil police personnel were on demolition duty Sunday.” DCP (Traffic) Ganesh Saha said separately 150 to 200 traffic personnel were also deployed across Noida at all crucial junctions to facilitate movement of vehicles in view of restrictions and diversions on several routes.

Incident Command Centre van to monitor the demolition of the Twin Towers, seen in the background at Noida.
| Photo Credit: R. V. Moorthy

Mr. Saha said his department was keeping commuters informed about the changes and Google Maps was showing real-time updates on diversions.

“In case of any doubt, people can call up Noida traffic helpline number 99710 09001 for updates,” the officer said.  – PTI