Noida Supertech twin towers reduced to dust in seconds | Top 10 points

Noida Supertech twin towers' demolition: A series of controlled explosions reduced the 100-metre tall structures to a huge pile of rubble - watched by thousands from surrounding rooftops and lakhs on live television.

The illegal twin towers of Supertech in Uttar Pradesh's Noida were finally demolished using 3,700 kilos of explosives bored into the pillars and walls of the two residential buildings on Sunday, nine years after a residents association went to court against the builders.

Noida's twin towers were demolished on Sunday at 2.30pm.  (Raj K Raj/HT)

A series of controlled explosions reduced the 100-metre tall structures to a huge pile of rubble - watched by thousands from surrounding rooftops and lakhs on live television.

Top 10 points on Noida Supertech twin towers's demolition:

1. Just after 2.30 pm, the floors of the twin towers collapsed onto each other in a stack that then sat amid other complexes in sector 93A in Noida, which adjoins New Delhi.

2. Apex (32 storeys) and Ceyane (29 storeys) were gone in 12 seconds, in the carefully choreographed and meticulously executed demolition, the biggest such exercise in the country so far.

A view after the Noida twin towers' demolition. - (Raj K Raj/HT)

3. About 5,000 people from the adjoining Emerald Court and ATS Village societies had left their homes hours before the demolition under the evacuation plan. Nearly 3,000 vehicles and about 200 pets were also taken out of harm’s way for the next several hours.

Watch: Stunning drone footage of Noida Supertech twin towers' demolition

4. The dust settled in a few minutes. Officials reported cracked windows and a broken boundary wall, but apparently no significant structural damage to the high-rises next to the demolished towers.

5. A team from Edifice Engineering and South Africa’s Jet Demolitions – the two companies that carried out the challenging task – the Central Building Research Institute (CBRI) and the Noida Authority began a structural audit of the adjoining buildings.

6. After 7 pm, residents started returning home. Power and cooking gas lines were reconnected. In the afternoon, a 27-km stretch of the Noida-Greater Noida expressway was closed to traffic for about 30 minutes.

7. Officials said the demolition conducted by the “waterfall implosion” technique left an estimated 35,000 cubic metres or 55,000 tonnes to 80,000 tonnes of debris, including concrete rubble, steel and iron bars. which officials said would be cleared within three months.

Fire officials sprinkling water on the road to settle the dust in Noida. (Raj K Raj/HT)

8. The Supreme Court ordered the demolition in 2021, saying there had been “collusion” between the builders and Noida Authority officials who let Supertech Ltd construct in the area where no buildings were to come up according to the original plans.

9. The builders paid for the demolition, which cost about ₹20 crore. According to the company, their overall loss is around ₹500 crore. That includes land, construction and interest costs.

10. In India, high-rise buildings have been demolished only once earlier through controlled explosions. In Maradu municipality area of Kochi, Kerala, four 18 to 20-storey buildings were razed in 2020 for violating Coastal Regulation Zone norms. Edifice and Jet Demolitions had collaborated then as well.

(With inputs from agencies)