India's illegal twin towers demolished, ending 9-year-old battle

The Supertech's illegal twin towers in Uttar Pradesh's Noida in India - which has been in headlines - are set to be demolished today at 2:30 pm.

All preparations are done and the stage is set for the safe demolition of the 100-metre-tall structures that will be done in nine seconds.

According to the demolition firm Edifice Engineering, over 3,500 kg of explosives will be used to raze the twin towers. Over 5,000 people from Emerald Court and ATS Village societies are evacuated as the impact of the demolition is likely to be maximum in and around these areas. Nearly 3,000 vehicles are being removed while NGOs are working to rescue dogs from the premises.

In addition, the Noida-Greater Noida Expressway that is close to the twin towers will be shut for vehicular movement from 2:15pm to 2:45pm.

Here some key points on the Supertech twin towers demolition:

The demolition - that follows a Supreme Court order - would take place using about 3,700 kg of explosives. Final checks were carried out on Saturday.

Apex and Ceyanne, the twin towers, would be the tallest in the country to be demolished in a controlled explosion. The entire process would take just nine seconds.

Strict barricading has been ensured 50 m around the twin towers by the Gautam Buddha Nagar Police.

Edifice Engineering's Utkarsh Mehta, while speaking to reporters, said, "Of course, I am nervous but we are 100 percent confident that the blasts will go as planned. We have been telling residents since the last 6 months not to worry, and we say the same today."

Manu Soni, a resident of Emerald Court Society, evacuated his home with his family of four on Sunday morning. "We will be staying at a family friend's place in Silver City apartments (about 200 m away from Twin Towers). We will be watching the demolition on TV as we do not want to step out on the balcony," he said.

His family woke up at 4.30 am to gear up for the evacuation. "Only about 20 per cent residents of the society were left who had not evacuated the society in the last two days. We woke up, had tea, got fresh, and left by 7 am," he said.

Some animal welfare organisations also reached the spot early on Sunday morning to ensure no stray animals were at the site amid the demolition process.

On Friday, the Supreme Court directed the Supertech group to prepare a timeline by October for disbursal of refund of money to the homebuyers of the Emerald Court twin towers.

Last year, in August, the top court had ordered the demolition of the 32-storey towers. The affected homebuyers who had invested in these under-construction flats were promised full refund with 12% interest.

Traffic advisory has been issued for key routes in the city. Top hospitals, including the Jaypee Hospital and Felix Hospital, are on alert.