Demolition date of Noida twin towers likely to get extended

Noida: The final clearances for fixing of explosives at Supertech twin towers in Noida’s Sector 93A will take a few more days, said sources

Noida: The final clearances for fixing of explosives at Supertech twin towers in Noida’s Sector 93A will take a few more days, said sources. It may also extend the demolition date from the scheduled August 21 to a few days later. Sources added that queries put by the Central Building Research Institute (CBRI) to various stakeholders are still unanswered and are causing the delay.

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The Supreme Court had earlier given August 28 as deadline for the demolition of the twin towers—the tallest structures in the country ever to be demolished. Based on an initial survey, test blast reports and preparation by Edifice Engineering, the demolition company, the Noida authority had submitted that the building will be ready for the blast on August 21, which is a Sunday.

While the date had been fixed, the technical monitoring body, CBRI, has now raised some additional concerns and questions on six security parameters, based on the reports submitted by Edifice Engineering and Supertech earlier.

Most of these loose ends are now likely to be tied only after the meeting by the Noida authority on August 6, where Gautam Budh Nagar police, CBRI, Supertech, Edifice and other stakeholders will be present. The charging process will most likely start after this meeting, which will also delay the final blast date. Edifice had earlier submitted that it would need at least 15-20 days for charging the buildings.

Noida authority officials said that there is much last-minute coordination left and it is premature to confirm the date of the blast yet.

“Some documents were requested by the CBRI. Their request has been forwarded to Supertech and they will hopefully respond before August 5. As directed by the Supreme Court, we will review the status on August 6, and submit a report to the apex court before the next hearing on August 12. So, it is premature to comment on anything before August 6,” said Ritu Maheshwari, chief executive officer (CEO), Noida authority.

CEO Maheshwari said that there are some more compliances that are still pending and it will be resolved by Wednesday. However, coordination with CBRI will be discussed only in the meeting on Saturday.

“We are hopeful that Supertech will share their reports with CBRI by Wednesday. Based on these reports, if CBRI suggests any changes in the plans, these will be submitted in court. The Supreme Court will take a final call on the matter on August 12,” CEO Maheshwari added.

According to Noida authority officials, CBRI had earlier as well recommended an extension in the blast dates without keeping the authority in the loop. Senior authority officials added that there were concerns raised by residents in the past that were forwarded by the authority to the CBRI but the concerns had remained unanswered so far. These have suddenly been raised again by the expert body in the past week.

Meanwhile, the police no objection certificate (NOC) that is pending, awaiting a response from the Petroleum and Explosives Safety Organisation (PESO), is also likely to be granted by Wednesday. “We have the PESO NOC and there is no objection from our side. As soon as we get the filled proforma seeking the NOC from Edifice, we will review and provide the NOC,” said Rambadan Singh, deputy commissioner of police (headquarters).