About 75 per cent residents of the ATS Village and nearly half of the Emerald Court, the other residential complex just metres from the demolished twin towers, are back home a day after the demolition of the two Supertech skyscrapers.
Around 5,000 residents of the two societies, closest to the razed twin towers — Apex (32 storeys) and Ceyane (29 storeys) — were evacuated on Sunday ahead of the 2.30 pm explosion that brought down the towers in just 12 seconds along with thousands of tonnes of debris and clouds of dust that spread in the nearby areas.
Gaurav Mehrotra of Emerald Court said around half of residents of his society had returned by Monday afternoon.
Naresh Keswani said, “The return process is gradual and hassle-free. Some people who had stayed in nearby locations returned last night only, some who had put up in hotels came after 11 am and 12, close to hotels’ check out time.”
ATS Village president Atul Chaturvedi said around 75 per cent residents of his society have returned till Monday afternoon. “Only some who left for a longer duration and went far places are yet to return now,” he said.
Chaturvedi said so far there has been no health related issue to anyone in their society as a result of demolition and its aftereffects.
Representatives of both societies said the supplies of cooking gas, electricity and water were running smoothly and had been inspected by local officials prior to restoring them for residents.
UBS Teotia, 82, president of Emerald Court residents group said, “There has been no health related issue to anyone in Emerald Court so far. Neither among children, nor even among elders.”
He said cleaning of up to 80 per cent of their society has been completed and it is expected to reach pre-demolition condition by Tuesday evening.
“Looks like it will take three to four days for cleanliness to reach pre-demolition condition while the damaged wall would take around a week for repair,” he said.
“Some cables got entangled in the trees which were close to the compound wall. Some poles also got tilted. The dust is of course there as the direction of wind was towards our society,” he said.
The windowpanes of some apartments developed cracks, but no structural damage was reported to the two adjoining buildings - ATS Village and Emerald Court.
“There have been reports from four to five houses about cracks in window panes. Even if it is 10 such cases, it is a minor thing. No major damages in our society,” Teotia said.
The chunk that fell in the ATS complex comprises the top three storeys of Supertech’s Ceyan tower. It damaged a nine-metre stretch of the compound wall.
Mayur Mehta, project manager for Edifice Engineering, said, “This particular piece of debris fell inside the range that had already been marked by the demolition team in its calculation. The damage to the wall was already factored in.”
Edifice Engineering earlier said it had got a Rs 100 crore insurance done for repairs in case of any structural damage to nearby residential towers.
The firm also said it would replace all cracked window panes due to the demolition in Emerald Court and ATS Village.
The residents also expressed happiness and relief over the illegal structures finally going away, even as concerns remained about the clearance of dust and debris.