FURTHER DELAY IN BLAST MAY CAUSE COLLAPSE OF TOWERS IN NOIDA: AGENCY

Edifice Engineering, the firm entrusted with the responsibility of demolishing the 32-storey twin towers of the Supertech group in Noida’s Sector 93A, filed a status report with the Noida authority on Tuesday, informing the body that the buildings are in a “precarious state” after the completion of drilling work and need to be demolished at the earliest.

On Wednesday, the Noida authority was scheduled to take a decision regarding the charging of the twin towers, but the process has been delayed, confirming that the blast to demolish the buildings will not take place on August 21.

In the status report, Edifice Engineering raised several points highlighting why the demolition is imperative.

To be sure, the Supreme Court had initially extended the deadline for the demolition till August 28. Based on the preparation, all stakeholders agreed to the demolition of the twin towers on August 21. However, officials of Edifice Engineering said that even with unplanned delays, all the preparation can last till August 28, beyond which further delay may lead to repercussions.

“The structure was pre-weakened at the time of preparation. Hence any delay in the final demolition date will increase the risk of undesired collapse in any direction which may take place due to factors beyond our control and we shall not be held responsible for the same,” the status report, a copy of which is with HT, said. Over 3,500kg of explosives will be filled within 9,400 holes drilled in the columns and shears of the nearly 100m-tall twin towers. Holes have been drilled in nearly every column of the tower on every floor, adding upto a total of over 15km in length, the status report added. Ritu Maheshwari, CEO of Noida authority, said, “We cannot comment on hypothetical situations. We will be submitting all the information to the Supreme Court and they will take a call regarding the blast date on August 12 .”A Supertech spokesperson declined to comment on the issue.