Uttar Pradesh’s Additional Chief Secretary (Home) Awanish Awasthi said on Sunday that the demolition of the illegal twin towers in Noida proved that the law ultimately catches up.
“These illegal twin towers were ordered to be demolished in a strict action by the Supreme Court. This proves law will ultimately catch up. It will send a message that illegal works will not be tolerated in the state," Awasthi said.
He added that the state government would continue the demolition drive against all illegal and unauthorised structures across the state.
Awasthi’s statement came moments after the Supertech twin towers were demolished by the authorities.
He said there was no adverse impact of the demolition and the air quality index at Noida was not adversely impacted.
The Supertech twin towers in Noida were imploded to dust in about nine seconds on Sunday, giving a moral victory to residents of Supertech Emerald Court in Sector 93A after their nine-year court battle with realty firm Supertech.
The go-ahead for demolishing the twin towers with explosives was given by the Supreme Court. The health impact of the resulting dust on residents will be minimal as experts overseeing the demolition took steps to control the impact.
The Supertech twin towers Noida were demolished on Sunday, a year after the Supreme Court ordered that the illegally-built structures be brought down. The nearly 100-metre-high towers fell like a pack of cards within nine seconds as 3,700 kg of explosives were imploded with precision.
After the demolition of the twin towers, the next challenge for authorities now is to clean the mountain of debris generated. Officials involved with the operation had earlier said about 55,000 tons of debris would be generated. It may take as many as three months to clear the debris. The waste will be dumped at designated areas.
The exercise was earlier supposed to start on August 21 but the court accepted the New Okhla Industrial Development Authority's (NOIDA) request and extended the date of demolition to August 28.
In 2011, the Residents Welfare Association had filed a petition in the Allahabad High Court. It was alleged that the UP Apartment Owners Act, 2010 was violated during the construction of the towers. The homeowners claimed that the two towers had less than 16 metres of distance between them which was in violation of the law. The original space designated for the garden in the original plan was allegedly used to construct the twin towers.
In 2012, during the Akhilesh Yadav-led Samajwadi Party government, the NOIDA approved the new plan proposed in 2009, ahead of the commencement of hearing in the Allahabad High Court. In April 2014, the Allahabad High Court delivered the judgment in favour of the RWA while also passing an order to demolish the twin towers. It asked Supertech to demolish the towers at its own expense and also refund the money of the homebuyers along with 14 per cent interest.
In May 2014, the NOIDA and Supertech moved the Supreme Court stating that the construction of the twin towers were according to the regulations. In August 2021, however, the Supreme Court upheld the order of the Allahabad High Court and ordered demolition of the towers while also stating that the construction had been made in violation of the regulations.
The twin towers were finally demolished on Sunday.