Why were Noida's twin tower demolished.

The Supertech twin towers were demolished on Sunday (August 28). The demolition of the Emerald Court project in Noida is leading to a loss of about Rs 1,000 crore to developer Supertech. It also took nearly Rs 20 crore to raze the building. 

A part of Supertech’s Emerald Court project, the two 40-story towers, that stand on Noida-Greater Noida expressway, houses over 900 flats in an area of around 7.5 lakh sq. feet. The twin towers (namely Apex and Ceyane) are located at Sector 93A in Noida. One of the buildings has an altitude of 103 metres, while another is around 97-metre tall.

The twin towers are being demolished because of serious violations of building codes. Supreme Court said, the Noida Authority and Supertech had engaged in “nefarious complicity” and ordered the company to demolish the buildings at its own expense under the guidance of the Noida Authority.

The ‘Supertech Emerald Court’ housing society was proposed to be built in Noida’s Sector 93A in 2004. The next year, the Noida authority sanctioned the building plan that showed 14 towers and nine floors. 

But this plan was later revised. And in 2012, the Noida authority reviewed the new plan, in which the height of the twin towers was fixed at 40 floors.

Following this, Residents’ Welfare Association (RWA) of the society moved to Allahabad High Court stating that the construction was illegal. Accordingly, in 2014, the court directed the authority to demolish the twin towers within four months (at its own expense) from the date the order was filed.

Later, in August 2021, Supreme Court upheld the Allahabad HC order, and ordered the demolition, noting that the structures had come up violating construction norms.

The Supreme Court’s decision was the result of a number of petitions submitted by homebuyers in support of and opposition to the Allahabad High Court’s ruling.  According to the Supreme Court, August 28 had affirmed as the date of destruction.

For the demolition, about 3,700 kg of explosives were brought from Palwal (Haryana) to be used. It was a mix of dynamite, emulsions and plastic explosives.