Supertech twin towers demolition: SC extends deadline till August 28

New Delhi, May 17 (IANS) The Supreme Court on Tuesday agreed to extend the deadline for demolition of Supertech's 40-storey twin towers at Noida, from May 22 to August 28, after it was informed that the test blast revealed that the structure was much stronger than anticipated.

A bench of Justices D.Y. Chandrachud and P.S. Narasimha agreed to extend the deadline for demolition of twin towers following submissions from counsel representing the Interim Resolution Professional (IRP) and also considering a communication by the Central Building Research Institute (CBRI) Director, dated May 11, that the demolition should be deferred to August 28.

The top court asked the NOIDA authority, which was represented by senior advocate Ravindra Kumar, to file a status report after convening a meeting of all stakeholders after it was informed that Edifice Engineering, which carried out a test blast, found out that the structure was much stronger than anticipated, therefore an alteration was required in the blast design.

Kumar has objected to the extension of the deadline for the demolition of towers.

As counsel representing the IRP said the suggestion of deferring the blast of twin towers is based on experts' opinion, advocate Gaurav Agarwal, amicus curiae in the matter, submitted that the top court may consider extending the deadline for demolition and a status report should be filed in July.

The top court was informed that 49 percent of demolition work has been completed so far, and the agency tasked to carry out demolition, wanted a larger quantity of explosives.

At the outset, the bench did not agree with extending the deadline, saying: "Why need three months... attempts to delay." However, after counsel for parties persuaded it by citing the experts' opinion, the bench agreed to extend the deadline.

The NOIDA authority, in its status report, said: "It is also submitted for the kind consideration of this court that NOIDA had issued immediate instructions to release the funds to Edifice Engineering and to provide all possible assistance in carrying out timely demolition. Edifice Engineering had carried out an analysis of all the structures prior to submission of its plan and the structural designs had been made available to it by Supertech Ltd."

It said Edifice Engineering had sought a period of 3 months for carrying out demolition and another three months for removing the debris, and now more than two months from commencement of the timeline for carrying out the demolition had elapsed, application for extension of time by three months has been made. "In the submission of NOIDA, this extension is not justified," the status report said.

On February 28, the NOIDA authority told the apex court that the work for the demolition of realty major Supertech's twin 40-storey towers in its Emerald Court project, has commenced and the towers will be brought down completely by May 22.

The top court had ordered the demolition of Supertech 40-story twin towers, which have been held as illegal for a violation of norms, at Noida in August last year.