Noida Supertech Twin Towers took 3 years to build. They will turn to dust in 9 seconds on August 28

We are just nine days away from August 28, when the 40-storey Supertech Twin Towers in Noida will be demolished. The buildings at Supertech Emerald Court, named Apex and Ceyane, which took nearly 3 years to build, will be reduced to rubble in just 9 seconds. The Supertech Twin Towers will be India's tallest construction to be razed to the ground after its construction was found illegal by the courts. 

The Twin Towers: The two towers are named Apex and Ceyane. Apex is the taller one, with 32 floors and its height is 102 metres. The second tower; Ceyane; is tower number 16 and has 29 floors. Its height is 95 metres.  The two towers together have 915 flats, 21 commercial shops, and two basements. 

What are the fresh preparations: To demolish the building, the 'charging' (process of loading explosives in the buildings) of the the towers is on in full swing. 

• The charging began on August 13 and it will take around 15 days to complete it. Every day, 250-270 kg of explosives are being brought from a PESO-authorised magazine in Palwal, Haryana. 
• The material is being brought in two vans and the leftover is taken back by 7 pm. 
• 46 engineers are working for around 12 hours every day to stuff explosives inside the 9,600 holes drilled inside the columns and shears of the skeletal structures of the two buildings.
• More than 300 CCTV cameras are being used to monitor the site. 
• After the demolition, it will take around 90 days to completely remove the debris from the site.
• Supertech has marked a 5-hectare land for the disposal of the rubble from the buildings.
• More than 500 police officials have been deployed to look after the security measures.
• The Noida-Greater Noida Expressway will be closed for around 20 minutes during the time of demolition of the towers.

Why are the two towers illegal? According to the National Building Code (NBC), the distance between two towers in a residential society should be a minimum of 16 metres. But the distance between Emerald Court's Tower No 1 and Tower No 17 (Apex) is less than 9 metres. It was a violation of the NBC. Uday Bhan Singh, the President of the Resident Welfare Association of Emerald Court, said that the place where the two towers stand was shown to be a vacant space by the builders from whom they had purchased the flats. 

The RWA took the matter to the Allahabad High Court in 2012. In 2014, the Allahabad High Court found that the construction of the two towers was "illegal" and ordered them to be demolished. It also asked the developers to refund the investors of the flat along with interest at a 14% rate. 

On August 31, 2021, the Supreme Court upheld the judgment of Allahabad HC to demolish the buildings.

On August 12, 2022, the apex court set the final date of demolition of the building on August 28. It also set a 7-day window till September 3, in case of any technical delay or weather issues.  

Three former officials booked: An FIR has been lodged against three former officials of the Noida Fire Department for allegedly giving a no-objection certificate for the construction of twin towers. A 3-member team conducted an investigation, after which they submitted their report to the UP government.

Following the report, an FIR was ordered against three former fire officers, Rajpal Tyagi, Mahavir Singh and IS Soni from the Noida Fire Department.