The Unwanted Twins, Now Gone For Good

Noida: Aster-2, the Emerald Court tower just 9 metres from Apex, suffered no damage from the demolition, putting to rest all apprehension of structural damage to its pillars. The debris, officials said, didn’t even reach the containers placed along the tower’s wall for safety.
“There was no damage to the building at all. CBRI and Edifice teams conducted a damage assessment and found no issues at all,” said Ritu Maheshwari, the Noida Authority CEO. She, however, said a 10-metre section of a boundary wall, some streetlights and windowpanes were damaged in neighbouring ATS Greens Village due to the implosion.
After the demolition, officials from Edifice, CBRI and Jet Demolition conducted a physical inspection of the site to check if any leftover explosives were there and found the area to be safe.
Joe Brinkmann, the director of Jet Demolition and the blast design architect, said, “Our primary concern was to bring the buildings safely to the ground. There should be no injury to people during the preparations and at the time of demolition. Causing no structural damage to the nearby buildings and the gas pipeline passing through the area were our other major priorities.”
Gauges were installed on existing cracks in Emerald Court towers, and there was no change in their readings after the demolition, officials said. “The demolition was completely safe and exactly in keeping with our calculations,” said Mayur Mehta, project manager at Edifice Engineering.
Residents who vacated their flats in the morning were allowed to return by 7pm. Shankar Ghosh, a resident of Aster-2, was the first person to enter the tower. “There was no dust in my flat at all. No window pane had shattered. I checked all around for cracks but didn’t find any,” he told TOI. He later informed about some damage to window panes in just one flat.
Residents of ATS Greens Village, meanwhile, demanded that Edifice repair the boundary wall and the broken window panes as promised.
Poonam Mutreja, a resident of Tower 6A of the society, is currently staying at a relative’s place in Gurgaon. She watched the demolition on TV.
“After I came to know that the boundary wall had been damaged, I am scared to return. My tower is one of the nearest to where the twin towers stood. The top three floors of Ceyane fell on our boundary wall, damaging it. I think Edifice will be compensating us for the damage, but what lies inside my flat is yet to be seen,” she said.
Marvin Waring, a resident of Tower 21, is currently staying at a hotel.
“I got a photo of our damaged boundary wall. The extent of the damage will be clear only after we return to the society. We have moved out for the next three days. There is a thick layer of dust all over the society. Clearing it will be a challenge,” he said.
(With inputs from Anjali Singh)