Residents raise concerns over debris at twin tower demolition site

Noida: Residents from Emerald Court have raised concerns over the slow process of debris management at the twin tower demolition site in Noida’s Sector 93A

Noida: Residents from Emerald Court have raised concerns over the slow process of debris management at the twin tower demolition site in Noida’s Sector 93A. They have also written to the Noida authority regarding the issue.

Noida, India- September 12, 2022: A view of the Supertech Twin Towers demolition site, in Noida, India, on Monday, September 12, 2022. (Photo by Sunil Ghosh / Hindustan Times) (Hindustan Times)

The 32-storey Supertech twin towers — Apex and Ceyanne — were the tallest structures in the country to be demolished on August 28 following a Supreme Court order. The demolition created about 36,000 cubic metres of debris, out of which 23,000 cubic metres filled up the basement, while the rest 13,000 cubic metres had to be transported out and scientifically managed. The demolition waste has piled up to about 10 metres and is being broken into smaller pellets at the site before being transported out.

The demolition company, Edifice Engineering, had earlier submitted that it would take about three months to clear all the debris, even as the debris management plan went through several changes. It was finally decided that the construction and demolition waste would be transported to the C&D waste processing plant of the Noida authority in Sector 80.

The transportation of the debris started about two weeks ago, but the process was stopped all of a sudden and no waste has been removed in the past one week. Residents said that with the approaching winter season, the construction waste will only add to the air pollution concerns.

“We have written to the authority to get the work expedited. We saw trucks going out of the site regularly but very little movement has been seen in the past few days. It is not much of a concern now, but if the debris is not removed now, air pollution woes will grip residents with the onset of winter,” said UBS Teotia, Emerald Court residents’ welfare association (RWA) president.

Officials from Edifice Engineering said that the work of removing the debris has been halted due to technical issues. “The work on site to break down the debris is going on. Transportation has been halted in the past few days due to coordination issues with the developer and it will resume soon,” said Mayur Mehta, project manager, Edifice Engineering.

Sources said that the C&D waste processing plant does not have sufficient capacity to process all the waste simultaneously and extra cost needs to be incurred by the developer to increase its capacity. Officials from Supertech and Noida authority have suggested an alternative land where the debris can be fragmented and the Uttar Pradesh Pollution Control Board (UP-PCB) is inspecting the site to check its feasibility.

“Supertech is planning to dispose of some of the waste generated from the demolition in a different manner at a site in Greater Noida. However, no official approvals have been received yet,” said Praveen Kumar, regional officer, UP-PCB, Noida.

Officials said that any plan for bulk C&D waste management has to be approved by the urban local body and the Greater Noida authority’s approval will be required.

Officials said that any plan for bulk C&D waste management has to be approved by the urban local body and the Greater Noida Authority’s approval will be required in this case.