40-storey Supertech twin towers will be demolished soon. Why?

The twin towers of Supertech's Emerald Court project in Uttar Pradesh's Noida will be demolished on May 22.

Seven years after the Allahabad High Court ordered the demolition of the buildings over the violation of UP Apartment Owners Act, 2010, the Supreme Court upheld the judgment on August 31st, 2021.

The SC found that the two towers in Sector-93 were constructed illegally by the developer.

The test blasts for the demolition of the buildings were carried out last week.

Take a look at what the Supertech case is all about:

THE TWIN TOWERS DEMOLITION

• The demolition process would take just nine seconds to finish.
• 2,500 kg to 4,000 kg of explosives will be used in the demolition process.
•  It would take around three months to clear the debris.
• Nearly 1,500 families living around the towers will have to vacate their homes.
• Ceyane (97m, 31 floors) will collapse to the ground first, followed by Apex (100m, 32 floors). 
• The buildings will fall inwards, floor by floor. 
• Loading the structure with the explosives would take around 12 to 15 days.
• An exclusion will be set up in the area and all the properties falling within this will be evacuated.
• The area will remain cordoned off for around five hours, and the traffic on the Noida Expressway will be halted for an hour.
• Residents in this area will be asked to leave their homes at least three hours before the implosions.
• A cloud of dust will arise from the implosion and could take about 4 to 10 minutes to dissipate.

THE PROJECT

Supertech's Emerald Court project had 3, 4 and 5 BHK apartments ranging from Rs 1 crore, 31 lakh to Rs 3 crore, 24 lakh.

In 2012, the project's Residents Welfare Association (RWA) approached the Allahabad HC claiming that the twin towers violated UP Apartment Owners Act, 2010. The RWA told the court the towers were constructed over an area marked as a garden in brochure and the distance between the buildings were less than the mandated 16 metre.

Following this, the Allahabad HC had ordered the demolition of the towers, and had asked the company to refund money to buyers at 14 per cent interest rate. The court also found that Noida Authority officials colluded with the builders.

On February 7, an SC bench directed that realtor Supertech and demolition contractors implement the HC order to demolish the two buildings without further hold-up. The Noida Authority told the SC that the work on the demolition will be over by May 22.

SUPERTECH GOES BANKRUPT

According to a report in Moneycontrol, Supertech went into insolvency on March 25, after the Delhi bench of the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) admitted a petition filed by the Union Bank of India for non-payment of dues over Rs 431 crore.

This order may impact over 25,000 homebuyers, who have been awaiting possession of their homes booked with the developer for many years now. The real estate firm needs to deliver units to homebuyers in 50 projects spreading across Noida, Greater Noida Ghaziabad and Gurugram.

WHAT NEXT FOR HOMEBUYERS?

The real sufferers of this Supertech saga have been the homebuyers. The SC has also acknowledged that homebuyers “suffer the impact of the unholy nexus between builders and planners".

The legal battle for this case has been going on since 2014. Over 25,000 homebuyers have been waiting for their flats for many years.

Now that (NCLT) has ordered insolvency proceedings against Supertech, the homebuyers of the project in the NCR region can submit their claims to the insolvency resolution professional (IRP) appointed by the tribunal.

The Mint reported that homebuyers can submit their claims online by visiting supertechlimited.com/public-announcement.php.eisdes. For any queries, they can call 8904039001 between 10am to 6pm.

A WARNING FOR BUILDERS

The final judgment of demolition on the Supertech’s twin towers is a warning signal for builders who violate construction and building norms in collusion with local authorities. The apex court gave a message with the judgment, that, now matter how big the project is, if it has been constructed illegally, it has to go down.

The SC bench, during its judgment, made it clear that even though "availability of housing stock, especially in metropolitan cities, is necessary to accommodate the constant influx of people”, “it has to be balanced with two crucial considerations — the protection of the environment and the well-being and safety of those who occupy these constructions”.