New Delhi: Supertech’s 40-storey building (Twin Towers), more than 900 flats will turn into rubble on Sunday and all that it would take is involvement of 10 men and 15 seconds of time. The cost to raze this skyscraper is estimated at about Rs crore and a whopping 3700 kg of explosives have been deployed.

On August 28, India’s one of the tallest buildings – Supertech Twin Towers, taller than Qutub Minar will collapse like a pack of cards.

Where are the Twin Towers located?

The 40-storey twin towers, measuring over 100 metres in height, are situated in Noida’s Sector 93A, near the Noida- Greater Noida Expressway. Named Apex and Ceyane, these two towers are part of Supertech’s Emerald Court project in Noida, Uttar Pradesh. There are over 900 flats in both the towers and together they cover an area of around 7.5 lakh square feet.

Mumbai-based Edifice Engineering has been tasked with the demolition plan and collaborating with it is South African firm Jet Demolitions.

How will the twin towers be demolished?

• The twin towers will being razed by means of controlled implosion technique, for which over 3,700 kg explosives have been deployed.
• The explosives that will bring down building includes detonators, emulsions and shock tubes.
• The whole procedure of demolition won’t take more than 15 seconds. All the explosives will blast in a series, creating loud noise in the area.
• The blast will be the trigger for flattening of the building, however it wouldn’t happen all at once. It would take about 5-10 seconds for the building to come down completely.
• While it draws nation’s attention, the incident will leave behind a whopping 55,000 tonnes of debris.

Why Supertech twin towers are being demolished?

The demolition of Supertech’s Twin Towers comes on back of Supreme Court order which declared the structures as illegal & in violation of norms.

While building the tower, Supertech openly flouted guidelines and made serious violation of building by-laws. In its searing remark, the SC had said that the Noida Authority & Supertech engaged in “nefarious complicity” and ordered the company to raze the structure at its own expense & in supervision of the Noida Authority.

What is the timeline of the case?

In 2004, ‘Supertech Emerald Court’ housing society was proposed to be built in Noida’s Sector 93A. It got the necessary sanction next year for developing a housing society with 14 towers & with 9 floors each. The height of floors was fixed at 37 meters.

In 2009, the plan was revised and the company got sanction to include 2 more towers in the society. The construction of Apex & Ceyanne took off , with a capping of 24 floors each.

In 2012, the Noida Authority reviewed the new plan and reportedly granted green signal for raising the number of floors to 40 each. Supertech claimed that it was done as per the Noida building regulations.

Same year, the Residents’ Welfare Association (RWA) of the society moved to Allahabad High Court claiming that the construction was illegal.

In 2014, the court directed the authority to raze the twin towers within four months (at its own expense). It also directed the promoter to refund payment of buyers with an interest rate of 14%.

The Supertech moved Supreme Court seeking overturn of the High Court order but the Apex court refused to give any relief. In 2021, It upheld the 2014 order of Allahabad High Court.

How much debris will be caused?

With the demolition of Apex (32 storey) and Ceyane (29 storey), huge pile-up of debris is expected at the site. The twin towers are likely to leave behind about 35,000 cubic metres of debris. And, the impact of implosion or debris will be felt by adjoining 2 societies — Emerald Court and adjoining ATS Village.

What will buyers get in return, who invested in Twin towers?

The Allahabad High Court had ordered the firm to refund the entire amount of booking with 14% interest, back in 2014 order. Later, the Supreme Court also directed the authorities to refund the amount to home buyers with 12% and also said that RWA of Emerald Court project be compensated with Rs 2 crore for the harassment meted out to them due to twin towers.

A deadline of Jan 2022 was set for the buyers of Supertech’s Emerald Court Project to get their entire money back along with 12% rate.