Current Affairs » Noida Twin Tower Demolition: Case History, Court Judgement, Pollution

Noida Twin Tower Demolition: Case History, Court Judgement, Pollution

The Supertech Twin Towers (also known as the Noida Twin Tower) were to be demolished on 28th August 2022 by the decision of the Supreme Court of India. According to project officials, the Noida Twin Tower was destroyed the day before. They also highlighted that Supertech’s illegal twin towers needed to be connected and that a 100-metre-long cable needed to be installed from the buildings to the exploder.

Key Takeaways

  • The Noida Twin Towers were demolished on 28th August 2022
  • The Noida Twin Towers were ordered to be demolished in April 2014 after RWA filed a petition with the Allahabad High Court.
  • After much back and forth on both parties, the Supreme Court of India ordered the demolition of the Noida Twin Structures in 2021, citing the towers’ illegitimate construction.
  • Gas and electricity lines to the nearby buildings were turned off before the explosion, which was set to go off at 2:30 PM, to prevent any harm.
  • In addition, a 27-km section of the Noida-Greater Noida expressway was shut down for around 30 to 45 minutes to ensure public safety.
  • The wind direction over the Supertech twin buildings reportedly changed to the east an hour before the destruction of the Noida Twin Tower was set to start, causing dust to move from Delhi toward Greater Noida and Bulandshahr.

Noida Twin Tower Demolition: Case History

  • Supertech altered the Building Plan in June 2006 after receiving more land under the same terms. By 2012, the contractor had planned to significantly change the initial building design, adding 15 buildings as opposed to the earlier 14 and raising the height to 14 Storey as opposed to the previously permitted 9. 
  • Along with this, the builder erected two more 40-floor buildings, which RWA objected to and later became the court dispute’s focal centre.
  • Supertech’s original development proposal called for creating a green space as part of the project, and the land was set aside for it next to Tower 1. However, the same area was allotted for the Noida Twin Towers Ceyane and Apex building when the plans were revised in 2012. Additionally, these buildings’ height was significantly increased from 24 to 40 stories.
  • Residents decided to bring a lawsuit against the builder after modifying the plans in 2012, requesting that Ceyane and Apex—the twin towers—be dismantled since they were being built unlawfully. Residents had requested withdrawal of the permission for the same from the Noida Authority. 
  • The Noida Twin Towers were ordered to be demolished in April 2014 after RWA filed a petition with the Allahabad High Court. In line with expectations, Supertech appealed this decision to the Supreme Court.
  • In 2021, the Supreme Court of the country affirmed the High Court’s decision ordering the removal of the unlawful twin buildings and ruled in favour of the locals. 
  • The Noida Authority and Supertech were found to have been involved in “nefarious collaboration,” according to the highest court’s final ruling. The builder was ordered to pay for the structures’ demolition.

Noida Twin Tower Demolition: Wrong Data

  • The problems started when Supertech altered the designs such that, by 2012, the complex had 15 buildings rather than 14.
  • Each structure would now have 14 storeys, up from the original nine.
  • The updated concept included building two more towers with a total height of 40 storeys.
  • The latter two were the centre of attention in the ten-year legal battle between the locals and Supertech.
  • Supertech had promised to build a “green” zone in front of Tower One. As per the court papers provided up to December 2006, this was in the first plan modified in June 2005.

Noida Twin Tower Demolition: Court Judgement

  • Residents Welfare Association petitioned the Allahabad High Court in 2011. The UP Apartment Owners Act, 2010, allegedly was broken while building the towers. According to the residents, the two towers should have been at least 16 metres apart, which was against the law.
  • In the initial plan, the twin towers were purportedly built in the area originally intended for the garden. In 2012, before the Allahabad High Court hearing could start, the Authority accepted the revised design that had been offered in 2009.
  • The Allahabad High Court ruled in favour of the RWA in April 2014 and also issued a directive for the twin buildings’ demolition. It requested that Supertech destroy the facilities at its own cost and return the homeowners’ money and a 14% interest fee.
  • After much back and forth on both parties, the Supreme Court of India ordered the demolition of the Noida Twin Structures in 2021, citing the towers’ illegitimate construction. Supertech then asked the Supreme Court to reconsider its decision in an appeal. 
  • After that, the supreme court held multiple sessions. Throughout the hearings, issues about the security of Emerald Court’s residents were also brought up. The decision led to further extensions of the demolition dates. But the Supreme Court didn’t back down from its view.

Noida Twin Tower Demolition: Demolition day

  • The Noida Twin Towers were demolished on 28th August 2022. Edifice Engineering finished it, a Mumbai-based business that demolished four illegal apartments in Kerala near Kochi. The company used a tactic called an implosion. 
  • Over 3,700 kg of explosives are hidden behind holes drilled into the Noida Twin Tower framework that supports Ceyane and Apex. The fact that the explosives on the ground level went off first shows that the explosion started at the bottom and worked its way up. Those who had been put to the first floor came next, and so on.
  • To lessen the damage, all occupants of the residential complex around the two towers were evacuated, and structures were wrapped with geotextile fabric. Over 3000 cars, 200 pets, and approximately 5000 members of surrounding societies were relocated out of the bomb impact radius as part of the evacuation operation.
  • Gas and electricity lines to the nearby buildings were turned off before the explosion, which was set to go off at 2:30 PM, to prevent any harm. In addition, a 27-km section of the Noida-Greater Noida expressway was shut down for around 30 to 45 minutes to ensure public safety.
  • According to data from the World Health Organization (WHO), Henipaviruses are classified as biosafety Level 4 viruses and can cause severe disease in both animals and people. Case fatality rates range from 40 to 75 per cent, significantly higher than the coronavirus rate.

Noida Twin Tower Demolition: Pollution

  • On Sunday, the Noida Twin Towers were taken down on 28th August 2022, with professional monitoring and special care taken to protect the neighbouring residential structures.
  • Environmentalists are worried about increasing pollution in the Delhi Capital Region. The fact that the nation’s capital escaped the disaster and that the wind patterns ultimately turned out to be favourable is notable.
  • The north-to-north westerly winds carried the dust clouds produced by the collapse of the Noida Twin Tower into greater Noida before carrying on to Uttar Pradesh.
  • The wind direction over the Supertech twin buildings reportedly changed to the east an hour before the destruction of the Noida Twin Tower was set to start, causing dust to move from Delhi toward Greater Noida and Bulandshahr.
  • Praveen Kumar, a regional official with the Uttar Pradesh Pollution Control Board, said the wind had been blowing in a westerly direction for the previous week but suddenly changed its course.
  • The Air Quality Index shows that Delhi was able to preserve consistent air quality because of the direction of the wind. At the nearest air quality monitoring sites in Patparganj, Dr. Karni Singh Shooting Range, and Okhla Phase-2, the PM 10 concentration did not rise after 3 o’clock on August 28, 2022.