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

Noida Supertech twin tower demolition: The floors of the twin towers collapsed onto each other in a stack as thousands watched from vantage points outside the 'exclusion zone' in Noida's sector-93A on the outskirts of New Delhi.

Ending a nine-year-long legal battle, the Supertech twin towers in Uttar Pradesh's Noida crashed down within a span of nearly nine seconds after the use of explosives on Sunday. The towers, Apex (32 floors) and Ceyane (29 floors), which are taller than the Qutub Minar in the national capital, were 100 metres tall and were brought down with explosives weighing at least 3,700 kg, in the biggest ever planned tower demolition bid.

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

In the biggest such demolition seen in the country, the floors of the twin towers collapsed onto each other in a stack as thousands watched from vantage points outside the 'exclusion zone' in Noida's sector-93A on the outskirts of New Delhi.

As the buildings went down, a drone shot, shared by journalist Nikhil Choudhary on Twitter, captured the cloud of dust rising obscuring the very final moments of the structures that the Supreme Court had ordered a year back to be demolished.

As the dust settled a few minutes later, officials said there were no immediate reports of any damage to the adjoining housing complexes amid which the twin towers sat. The closest residential complex was just nine metres away.

A team from Edifice 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.

Water sprinklers and anti-smog guns were activated at the site soon after the demolition to help contain the dust, an official said.

Over 5,000 residents evacuated

More than 5,000 people from the adjoining Emerald Court and ATS Village societies had left their homes, hours before the demolition was carried out around 2.30 pm. Nearly 3,000 vehicles and over 150 pets were also taken out of harm’s way for the next several hours.

Waterfall implosion technique

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

The Supreme Court had on August 31, 2021, had ordered the demolition, upholding a verdict by the Allahabad High Court. It said Supertech Ltd had violated building norms and pointed at "collusion” with Noida district officials in the Emerald Court project.

Boundary wall of nearby society damaged

A boundary wall of a nearby residential society suffered damage while windowpanes of several apartments developed cracks, officials said here on Sunday.

A Gas Authority of India Limited (GAIL) pipeline that goes through the now-demolished structures is safe, the officials said.

(With inputs from agencies)