Noida demolition: Final check-ups on, just towers and exploder need to be connected

All work related to placement of explosives and connecting them is already complete. The only element remaining was interconnecting the twin towers and placing a 100-metre-long cable from the structures to the exploder, from where the button would be pressed on Sunday, they said.

Noida: The final check-up of explosives and related arrangements for demolition of Supertech's illegal twin towers in Noida were underway on Saturday, project officials said here. All work related to placement of explosives and connecting them is already complete. The only element remaining was interconnecting the twin towers and placing a 100-metre-long cable from the structures to the exploder, from where the button would be pressed on Sunday, they said.

Over 3,700 kg explosives will be used to raze down the nearly 100-metre-tall structures taller than Delhi's iconic Qutub Minar in pursuance of a Supreme Court order that found their construction within the Emerald Court society premises in violation of norms. Around 5,000 residents of Emerald Court and adjoining ATS Village societies have to vacate their premises by 7 am on Sunday while also removing nearly 3,000 vehicles and taking away 150-200 pets, including cats and dogs, with them for the day.

"Once that is done and all teams get down from the buildings, the two buildings Apex and Ceyane, have to be inter-connected. After that a 100-metre-long cable would be run from the towers to the exploder to demolish the buildings," Edifice Engineering's project manager Mayur Mehta said. "Once we get the clearance from the police department that the exclusion zone is 100 per cent clear, then at 2.30 pm on Sunday we will press the button," he said.

Asked how confident he was regarding safe demolition, Mehta told PTI: "100 per cent. I don't have any other word. We are 100 per cent confident." Mehta's Mumbai-based Edifice Engineering has been tasked with safely pulling down the structures. Edifice has roped in South African experts Jet Demolitions for the project. The whole exercise is being overseen by the local Noida Authority.

Diversions would be placed on roads leading to the twin towers in Noida Sector 93A from Sunday morning while the Noida-Greater Noida Expressway, barely 200 metres from the demolition site, would be closed for vehicular movement from 2 pm to 3 pm, DCP (Traffic) Ganesh Saha said. Google maps will have updated feeds for diversions and real-time traffic situations on Sunday, Saha said, adding that arrangements have been made for movement of emergency vehicles.

DCP (Central Noida) Rajesh S said around 400 police personnel would be deployed for law and order duty, while PAC and NDRF personnel would also be on the ground for any contingencies. Chief Medical Officer Dr Sunil Sharma said the health department would station six ambulances at the site equipped with officials and medicines. Beds have been reserved at the district hospital and private medical facilities Yatharth, Felix and Jaypee too.

The demolition of the twin towers will be carried out through the waterfall implosion technique which would bring them down within a few seconds literally like a house of cards. The eye-popping event would leave behind a whopping 55,000 tonnes of debris, even as some estimates put the figure at 80,000 tonnes. The debris would take an estimated three months to be cleared and disposed of.

Noida Authority CEO Ritu Maheshwari said all arrangements are being made to clear the dust from the area in the aftermath of the demolition. Besides sanitation workers, mechanical sweeping machines, anti-smog guns, water sprinklers would be placed at the site, she said. Residents of Emerald Court and ATS Village that PTI spoke to said they were anxious over the demolition, even as they expressed relief over the illegal structures finally set to go away after legal battles of more than a decade. (PTI)