Noida Twin Tower demolition: Supertech issues statement; denies deviation in building plan

Ahead of the demolition of the Twin towers: Apex and Ceyane in Sector 93A near the Noida-Greater Noida Expressway, Supertech denied any deviation in the Twin Towers construction plan. Supertech stated that the Supreme Court did not find the construction satisfactory and ordered its demolition. 

Supertech said, "No deviation from building plan was made. However, Supreme Court has not found the construction satisfactory on technical grounds & accordingly issued orders to demolish the two towers. We respect the orders of the Apex Court, committed to implementing the same.”

The nearly 100-metre-tall structures will be razed to the ground in nine seconds by using the 'waterfall implosion technique' at 2:30 pm on Sunday, August 28. 

Why was Noida's Twin Towers demolished? 

The New Okhla Industrial Development Authority (NOIDA) granted Supertech a 48,263 square metre block of land in 2004. Under the New Okhla Industrial Development Area Building Regulations and Directions, 1986, the building plan for the construction of "Supertech Emerald Court," each with the ground and nine stories, was approved the very next year, in 2005. A further 6556.51 square metres of land were given to the developer in 2006.

A fresh and improved plan was approved the same year as the New Okhla Industrial Development Area Building Regulations and Directions, 2006, were announced. The revised proposal called for building a shopping centre, two more towers, and two extra floors for the existing towers. The twin high-rise was added to the updated proposal in 2009.

In 2010, the New Okhla Building Industrial Development Area Building Regulations and Directions Area Building Regulations, 2010 came into force, which directed, "Distance between two adjacent building blocks shall be minimum 6 meters to a maximum of 16 meters, depending on the height of the blocks. For building heights up to 18 meters, the distance should be 6 metre and spacing shall be increased by 1 metre for every addition of 3 metres, as per National Building Code 2005." 

However, the third development plan, which was approved in 2012, allowed Ceyane and Apex to be elevated from 24 floors to 40 floors, making the buildings' combined height 121 metres. In this instance, the space between the building blocks was 9 metres, which was 7 metres short of the required 16 metres.

The CFO then sent a communication to the Noida Authority regarding the violation of the required separation between towers.

Following this, the Residents' Welfare Association (RWA) of the society filed a lawsuit against the construction with the Allahabad High Court. The authority was ordered by the court to demolish the twin towers within four months (at its own expense) of the date the ruling was made in 2014.

The New Okhla Industrial Development Authority and Supertech petitioned the Supreme Court to overturn the Allahabad High Court's ruling. The Allahabad High Court's decision to demolish the buildings within three months was upheld by the Supreme Court, and after being postponed for a year, the Supertech Twin Towers were finally demolished at 2:30 pm on August 28.