Supertech twin towers case: Buildings to be razed in 9 seconds in May

The Supertech twin towers in Noida's Sector 93A will be demolished in nine seconds on May 22, the contractors appointed to raze the structures said.

The columns of the buildings - which are 97 and 103 metres tall, respectively - will be drilled with holes at strategic points, in which the explosives will be placed. Between 2,500 and 4,000 kg of explosives will be used in the demolition.

Speaking to media, Edifice Engineering said: "The taller tower will fall a few milliseconds after the smaller one. The columns of the towers will be covered with layers of wire mesh and geotextile fabric to contain the concrete debris when the building implodes."

The debris will take around three months to clean up. The entire process of demolition is expected to be complete by August 22.

The buildings are being razed down after an order from the Supreme Court. Apex and Ceyane - the twin towers - are being demolished after the residents of the Supertech Emerald Court project moved the Allahabad High Court. They claimed that the buildings were in violation of the National Building Code as the distance between the towers was less than 16 metres.

The Allahabad High Court said that the towers had been constructed illegally, complicit with officials of the Noida authority.

About 1,500 families living in the vicinity of the towers would be moved out of their homes for about five hours when the operation is carried out. A stretch of the Noida-Greater Noida Expressway, in proximity of the site, will also be closed for an hour.

The Supreme Court had also ordered Supertech, the company that had built the towers to refund the entire amount (along with 12 per cent interest) to the 633 buyers who had bought flats in the complex.

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