Noida twin tower demolition: Tentative date moved to Aug 21

The date for demolition of Supertech's illegal twin towers in Noida has been moved from August 28 to August 21, officials said on Tuesday. Earlier the Supreme Court had allowed extending the demolition date till August 28 from May 22 this year after the private company engaged in the work approached it with a plea for a time extension.

"The tentative date for demolition has been moved to August 21 now. The time limit extension granted by the honourable Supreme Court is till August 28. The decision has been taken in order to create a buffer period so that the work is completed in any case by August 28," Noida Authority's CEO Ritu Maheshwari told PTI.

The senior IAS officer said the private agency, Edifice Engineering, engaged for the demolition work by Supertech on Tuesday made a presentation to the Noida Authority about the work progress and its preparation.

"The company said they are on track for the job. It said it has on its own taken a buffer period of 12 days from the actual date of demolition (August 28). They will be ready 12 days in advance. So it has been decided to shift the demolition date by one week to August 21," Maheshwari said.

The apex court said on August 31 last year ordered the demolition of the nearly 100-metre tall twin towers which had come up in violation of building bye-laws inside Supertech's Emerald Court group housing society in sector 93A.

The towers were earlier scheduled for demolition on May 22 and test blasts were held on April 10 at the site by Edifice Engineering, which has further roped in South African firm Jet Demolitions for the work owing to its expertise in the job.

During the meeting, chaired by Maheshwari, the status of compliance of the court orders with the described conditions and the problems arising out of the demolition were discussed, the Noida Authority said in a statement.

Besides the Noida Authority, officials of the police department, fire department, Pollution Control Board, Central Building Research Institute (CBRI), Edifice Engineering and Supertech group were also present.

Residents Welfare Association members of the Emerald Court society and its adjoining ATS village also took part in the discussions, it said.
"Since the demolition proceedings should be done by August 28, therefore, to ensure compliance with the orders of Supreme Court, the date August 21 was fixed for the demolition, taking a grace period of one week, so that in any unavoidable circumstances, the demolition must be completed by August 28, 2022, the statement read.

By Wednesday, the areas falling within the radius of 50 metres of the twin towers should be identified and the information made available to both the RWAs, the Noida Authority asked the demolition agency.

The pre-demolition structural audit of this 5-metre radius area by Edifice Engineering should be provided to the CBRI by June 30 and by the same time it should make available its plan for scientific disposal of construction and demolition waste to the Uttar Pradesh Pollution Control Board, according to the statement.

The demolition firm has also been asked to present a report of the vibration test for the April 10 test blasts to the Gas Authority of India Limited (GAIL) and the CBRI. This report should be made available to them by June 20, it added. 

(With inputs from PTI)

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