On a windy, chilly Friday afternoon, the couple – Veenu (69) and Shobha (67) – hurried down from their third-floor apartment to the society’s park, the small patch of lush green that sunlight had lit up for the first time this year after the stubborn cloud cover over Delhi-NCR relented.
When they bought the apartment at ATS Greens Village in Sector 93A nine years ago, they didn’t have to make this trek. The sun met them at the balcony. Shobha loved this about the house along with the view of the Noida Expressway, Besides, the breeze occasionally brought in the faint susurrus of traffic, balancing solitude and the reassuring urban ambient sounds.
“The balcony lost its purpose after some time,” says Shobha, casting a wry look across the compound. On the other side are two colossal outgrowths in the landscape that dwarf everything in the vicinity – the infamous twin towers built by Supertech in Emerald Court, the society adjacent to Greens Village. “The towers just kept rising, blocking the sun and the view,” adds Shobha.
The Mathurs are among the nearest neighbors of the twin towers (barely 50 meters away) outside of Emerald Court. But while living in the buildings’ shadow has been unpleasant, what lies ahead has been giving them the jitters. The towers, which the Supreme Court last year declared illegal and ordered to be demolished, will be blown to the ground a few months from now, possibly in May.
It’s an exercise of a scale that has no precedent in India, and the thought of two massive crumbling edifices – one 100 meters and the other 97 meters tall – right next to them has unnerved many in the immediate neighbourhood.
“Since the demolition was finalised, we have been living in distress,” says Veenu. “I was an engineer before retirement, so I do have questions and concerns. There must be some ways to simulate the whole demolition process on a computer to show us how it will be done and what can be expected from it,” he adds.
The demolition, for which the work order has been issued to the same firm that razed the illegal Kochi waterfront buildings in Maradu, is likely in May, dragging Sector 93A into a milestone it didn’t sign up for.
The sector, developed by the Noida Authority in the early 90s, is home to nearly half a dozen tony apartment complexes, including ATS Greens Village, Supertech’s Emerald Court, Parsvnath Prestige, Eldeco Utopia and Purvanchal Silvercity. The populated villages of Gejha, Rohillapur, Sultanpur and Shahpur are next door. It has an estimated population of 50,000 people, including about 11,000 across the five highrises, many of whom are serving or retired government officials, defense personnel and senior corporate executives.
The common concern – the impact of the demolition on other buildings and its “risks” to the neigbourhood. As a resident put it, “Since no one has seen or experienced any such thing before, there are many apprehensions. We hope to get some answers before the actual demolition happens.”
The twin towers are to be brought down through an implosion, which will cause the buildings, Apex and Ceyane, to fall inward, within the perimeter set up for the implosion.
ATS Green Village’s Bhusan family is worried about the impact of the demolition on their building
Several weeks of preparation, including creating shock absorbers to minimize vibrations and hold the debris within the perimeter will go into the process, which is monitored by experts. But other than those living in Emerald Court, residents of other societies say they are in the dark about the process, which has been feeding their apprehensions.
ATS Greens Village has 700 flats occupied out of a total of 736. Residents of four towers – 6, 6A, 7 and 8 are not only closest to the twin towers but are located bang opposite them and fear a direct impact of the demolition. Bharat Bhusan (70), the RWA president of Greens Village, says, “The main worry that we have is how safe we will be and what impact the demolition will have on our apartment. When these huge structures come down, I suspect it will be just like an earthquake with massive vibrations. I don’t know what damages it will entail. I’m worried about the whole complex and its foundation,” says Bhusan, who lives with his wife. His sons are working in Mumbai and abroad.
As town planner of Noida Authority in the early ’90s, Bhusan was part of the team that was instrumental in shaping Noida as a city. “I am diabetic and suffer from hypertension. I do have anxiety issues due to this whole demolition thing because I am the president of the society and residents come to me asking about it. But I have no answers as the Noida Authority has not contacted us or given any assurances. We want insurance cover for any damages that may happen to our property and the complex,” says Bhusan, adding the green belt separating their society with the twin towers has an IGL pipeline, which too runs the risk of damage.
PK Banga (77), a resident of tower 6A and a professional bhajan singer, says he had made his peace with the twin towers. “Frankly speaking, I don’t want this demolition to take place as it is most likely to leave construction debris and dust pollution for a long time. I know that we are going to be most affected. At this age, I have medical problems . I have type 1 diabetes and I’m on insulin. I don’t want any further health issues,” said Banga, whose wife has passed away. He plans to shift to his son’s place in Mumbai.
PK Banga, a resident of tower 6A, in his apartment. He is among those who are nearest to the twin towers
The Goyals – Narendra Kumar (73) and Preeti (70) – of tower 8, who have been living here for 13 years, plan to shift too, to their children’s apartment complex in Sector 150, when the demolition happens. Narendra has Parkinson’s disease.
“We are worried about the dust and the noise. The vibrations may damage the glass windows and our building’s foundation,” says Narendra.
Concerns of structural damage and impact on health go beyond Greens View. Ranjit Kapoor (72), a resident of Eldeco Utopia, says, “There are many questions that we have. While third-party insurance for buildings that fall within a radius of 50 meters is expected, what is the guarantee that there will be no impact beyond 50 meters? How much distance will the tremors travel? If all these things are not taken care of, then another legal battle will open up.”
Dharampal Pandey (73), who lives in Parsvnath Prestige, adds, “The demolitions will lead to severe pollution for a few days. This is a serious concern for senior citizens like me with breathing problems. We will be shifting out of this area for a week when this happens.”
Ranjan Tomar, president of Noida Village Residents Association, says he has written to officials about the demolitions.
“Within 1km radius of the twin towers is Rohilla, where I live. From the day news spread about the towers being brought down, there is a lot of concern here. If anything goes wrong, who is going to take responsibility? How are they There are people in our locality who have asthma. Are they supposed to leave their homes for a few days? What exactly are we supposed to do? We want to know what the action plan is.”
The building nearest to the twin towers is Aster 2 inside Emerald Court, which is just nine meters from Apex. Rajesh Rana (62), a resident of Aster 2, says, “The order to demolish the towers is much bigger than the risk factors like pollution or anything else. I agree that there is risk in this demolition, for instance what if it falls to the other side, damaging our flats. However, since they are taking insurance, we are satisfied with it. In case there is damage to our houses, the responsibility of settling people who are uprooted for 6 months or one year should be with the government or Supertech.”
Satjyot Singh, a rehabilitation psychologist, says people will express three stages of emotion during the demolition process – before the event, during the event and after the event. “There is experts uncertainty surrounding the demolition. While the concerned government authority and will be taking necessary precautions, people living nearby should be educated and made aware about how they are safe, as that can lower their anxiety, fear and confusion levels,” says Singh.
“Fear can only be addressed through awareness. After the demolition, some people might be fearful of going back to their homes. Again, such people need to be assured or informed by officials step by step that nothing is wrong and they can come back to their homes,” he adds.
Mukesh Vaish, a civil engineer in the Noida Authority, says building demolitions are controlled ones in which impact area and other concerns are factored in and precautions are taken. “Such exercises are undertaken in an extremely controlled manner. For instance, a model of the building is made where implosions are tested for the impact factor.”
Word on the demolitions has, meanwhile, reached social media, which is how Narendra Singh, who runs a Chinese food van in the area, learned about it. Singh is nonplussed. He has been through lockdowns and night curfews. This won’t be such a disruption.
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