Thoughts that count: Heartening scenes before Supertech twin tower demolition

Supertech demolition: The illegal towers violated buildings norms and among those who fought a tough legal battle were some senior citizens.

Heartening scenes were witnessed near Noida’s Emerald Court Society on Sunday morning hours before the country witnesses the controlled explosion of the tallest towers to be demolished so far. Apex (32 storeys) and Ceyane (29 storeys) towers would be razed to the ground at 2:30 pm.

Stray animals being evacuated by volunteers near Supertech twin towers. 

As the day began, cops reached the site to ensure that hundreds of residents - who were still at the Society - were moved out to safety. In the last three days, thousands of citizens have been evacuated from the Society.

For the evacuated residents, nearby society Silvercity AOA placed banners, welcoming them for breakfast. Rajiv Mehta, general secretary of Silvercity AOA, said, "We got a list of 70 people from Supertech Emerald Court AOA yesterday who were scheduled to come today. However, only three families have come here so far. Breakfast has been arranged for them".

In the early hours on Sunday, some animal welfare organisations had also reached the site to evacuate stray animals.

"We have so far removed 27 community dogs from the area. In the morning, we removed two more stray dogs. We are still looking around to ensure we drive away all stray dogs from the spot," said Saniya Verma, a resident of Parsvanath Srishti apartments, who feeds strays in the area.

Supertech Tower Demolition: In a nearby society, evacuated citizens welcomed. 

The demolition of the illegal towers was ordered by the Supreme Court last year in August over violation of building norms. The top court had made strong remarks on the "nefarious complicity" between the Noida Authority and Supertech and ordered that the company shall carry out the demolition at its own expense under the supervision of the civic body and an expert body like the Central Building Research Institute.

The legal battle was said to be led by an Apartments’ Owners Association (AOA), almost exclusively comprising senior citizens, HT reported.