Noida Twin Towers Demolition: Residents rue lack of support from authorities for evacuation

Residents of 1,396 flats from Emerald Court and ATS Greens Village will have to vacate their homes on the morning of August 21. (PTI)

With only a few weeks left for Supertech's twin towers in Sector 93A to be demolished, families residing in 1,396 flats in residential blocks in the vicinity will have to move to a different location for a few hours. While there is no formal plan to relocate them to an alternative site by the authorities, residents Moneycontrol spoke to said that they had no choice but to make their own arrangements.

Residents will also have to take their cars and two-wheelers along as no vehicle will be allowed within a 100-metre radius of the blast site, neither on roads, nor in the basements.

A total of 1,396 flats from Emerald Court and ATS Greens Village will have to vacate their homes on the morning of August 21. These have over 5,000 residents.

Read More: Pre-demolition work on Noida twin towers complete: Sources

"We are looking into it. Some residents will be moving to their friends' and relatives' houses while for those who have no such options available, we are trying to make an alternative arrangement for food and sitting in a nearby community hall. If the authorities don't help, then the RWA will bear the expenses. The Noida Authority is equally responsible for this trouble and they should have made an arrangement for the evacuation," said UBS Teotia, president, Emerald Court RWA.

Another resident of Emerald Court, Gaurab Debnath, said that he will be moving into a hotel on August 21. "Since the evacuation is for a few hours, I have booked a hotel and will take my parents and kids there. We are not at fault and therefore those responsible for it should have made arrangements," said Debnath.

Anoop Kesharwani, another resident of Emerald Court, said that before leaving, the residents would be taking some safety measures as well.

Read More: Supertech Twin Towers case: SC directs concerned parties to provide information to CBRI

"We are awaiting final guidelines from Noida Authority but at the same time, we are also preparing for evacuation. I will either book a hotel or move to a relative's house. But before that, we want to ensure that our towers are least affected. For this we will be covering the building from the twin tower's side to protect it from demolition dust. We may also temporarily block any other openings like chimneys, exhausts, windows etc. We would be forming a committee that will inspect every flat to ensure that no elderly citizen or domestic help is left behind," said Kesharwani.

ATS Greens Village resident Rajiv Srivastava said that he may go out of the station for a day but expressed his concerns related to the safety of the building.

"Any building which is 10 years old starts degrading. There will be an impact of twin tower demolition on the ATS buildings. There are over 3,000 people who need to be evacuated and everyone's financial condition may not be sound. The authorities or agencies should have helped in making some alternative arrangement," said Srivastava.

A Supertech official said that the developer has no role to play in the process that is being carried out by Edifice Engineering and being monitored by the Supreme Court.

Read More: Supertech twin towers to be demolished on August 21: Noida CEO Ritu Maheshwari

Edifice had earlier said that an insurance of Rs 100 crore has been taken to cover any damage caused to the nearby buildings.

While the Emerald Court has 11 towers, two of them - Aster 2 and Aster 3 - are just around nine metres from the twin towers.