The engineering firms selected by the developer to bring down the Emerald Court twin towers are likely to share their detailed plan about the demolition exercise in a meeting with the Noida Authority on Thursday.
The meeting coincides with a hearing of the twin tower demolition case in the Supreme Court on Thursday. The Noida Authority and the developer, Supertech, will tell the court the status of the demolition exercise and explain the delay in executing it. On August 31, the apex court had ordered that the twin towers — Apex and Ceyane — be brought down in three months, saying they had been built illegally. Although the deadline ended on November 30, the demolition plans are yet to be submitted in the court.
Sources said the virtual meeting would begin at 11am on Thursday. One of the two engineering firms will present the methodology they will implement to bring down the buildings and also specify the time period required for the entire exercise. The other company, though ready with its plan, will make a presentation at another meeting.
“Supertech has sent its representation on the matter. It is being examined by our officials. We will ask the engineering companies to take us through their plan and provide us with a timeline. We will be able to share more details only after going through their presentations,” said Ritu Maheshwari, the chief executive officer of the Authority.
Sources said the agencies were exploring the idea of using explosives for the twin demolitions and could ask for six months more for the entire exercise, including the clearing of debris from the site. A case study by one of the companies will show how a 108-metre-high building in South Africa was brought down safely through implosion although it had clearance of 7.8 metres from the nearest structure, the sources said. In the case of Emerald Court, the nearest inhabited building — Aster 2 — is 9 metres away.
The Authority will ask members of the residents’ welfare association of Emerald Court to participate in Thursday’s meeting. Senior officials from the fire department will also present their inputs. “We will invite all the stakeholders. They should be aware of the action plan from the first day itself. The participation of RWA members is required at this stage as they have raised a number of queries and concerns,” said an Authority official earlier in the day.
Experts from the Central Building and Research Institute (CBRI) will go through the plans that will be submitted by the two engineering firms at the meeting. The Supreme Court had asked the Authority to keep the CBRI in loop to ensure the demolition took place in a safe manner.
The two companies — Genesis Engineering and Edifice Engineering — were recommended for the demolitions last month by Supertech, which sought more time to prepare a detailed plan. On Tuesday, the developer said the companies were ready with their presentations.
“We have told the Authority that the two companies are ready with their plans and they can be discussed in detail with all the stakeholders,” a spokesperson for Supertech Limited said.
UBS Teotia, president of the Supertech Emerald Court RWA, said, “We have been informed about the meeting on Thursday morning. Three of our members will attend the session.”
