Supertech asks SC for time till Aug to demolish Noida twin towers; lists 4 reasons

Supertech on Tuesday requested the Supreme Court for an extension of the deadline to demolish 32-storeyed twin towers — Apex and Ceyane — in Noida, which were to be razed on May 22. Officials said the developer wrote to the top court after Edifice Engineering, the private firm contracted to demolish the towers, asked for time till the end of August to complete the preparations and submitted a report listing four main reasons for the delay to Supertech and Noida authority last week, a copy of which the developer forwarded to the Supreme Court.

On February 7, 2022, a bench of justices Dhananjaya Y Chandrachud and Surya Kant directed Supertech and Edifice Engineering to implement the Supreme Court court’s August 31, 2021 order to demolish the two buildings in Supertech Emerald Court society, constructed in violation of building bylaws, without further hold-up. Sources said that Edifice Engineering had earlier sought over four months for preparation. However, the Supreme Court gave them three months’ time, following which May 22 was fixed as the date for demolition. It is now up to the Supreme Court to finalise the new date.

According to Edifice Engineering’s report, which HT has seen, two more floors were added to the list of blast floors — floors that will be completely demolished to help bring the structure down — after the results of the test blast on April 10 showed that the structure was stronger than it appeared. The company needs more time to ensure that there is no mishap during the blast, officials said.

“We submitted the report and mentioned all the reasons… I cannot reveal more details since the matter is sub-judice and only the Supreme Court can take the final call,” said Uttkarsh Mehta, partner, Edifice Engineering.

After the test blast, Jet Demolitions, Edifice Engineering’s partner that will design the actual demolition, insisted that all basement floors (including B1 that was not in the plan earlier) and the top floor (floor 32), be made primary blast floors. The addition of these two floors and the ensuing extra preparations are the main reasons for seeking an extension, said the report.

The need for extra layering — to minimise the amount of flying debris during the blast — and explosives, since more floors need to be covered now, are the second and third reasons.

The company also added around 10 days to the timeline to account for labour fatigue. “The only reason we need an extension is to ensure that the job is done with precision and safety,” said an official from Edifice Engineering.