An already chocking national capital on Monday woke up to a pile of debris and dust left behind following the iconic razing of the Supertech twin towers by controlled explosions yesterday.
Culmination of a nine-year legal battle with the realtors saw the twin towers in Noida brought to the ground after the Supreme Court had termed the construction illegal last year.
Noida’s Emerald Court housing society today witnessed mountains of rubble with cleaners at work scrapping the layer of dust from the ground near the site.
Meanwhile, the covers that had been put up on nearby buildings to minimize the entry of dust, are yet to come off.
Speaking to NDTV, a member of the resident welfare association of the housing society in Noida’s Sector 93A, Aarti Kappula said, “There was a smell of dynamite, the rest was fine. We just removed the AC covers and slept off,” when she returned home at around 11.30 pm.
She mentioned that she woke up this morning to a clear sky. “We had received an advisory that there will be pollution. When I woke up, I saw a blue sky, so I came out without a mask,” added Kappula.
She was further quizzed on celebrations planned in the aftermath of what could be symbolized as a victory of good over evil, in the way that the twin towers were razed down after being found to have been constructed illegally.
“Absolutely, we have planned it this evening. We are going to get together for a while. The battle is won for sure. It's an example for the entire country,” she replied to it.
It may be noted that the residents of the society had moved the court pointing out that realtor Supertech, the firm behind the twin towers had built it on an area which was originally marked for a garden space. They contended that the realtor violated norms in order to sell more flats for more profits.
They allegedly modified the original building plans later to include the two towers with 24 floors which was approved by the authorities. Furthermore, a later plan to increase the number of floors to 40 which was also cleared promptly.
Then finally in the Supreme Court, the realtors were held guilty for violating the norms in collusion with authorities in Noida. The apex court ordered the demolition of the iconic towers at the expense of Supertech in a landmark order last year.
Kappula also said that the government in Uttar Pradesh did not interfere in the legal battle in any way. “I hope the government continues to be like that. In fact, it should pull authorities... residents suffer,” she said.
The cause of immediate concern was the debris spread across the demolition site, she added. She further said that Edifice, the firm handed with the duty of carrying out the demolition had initially told them that the larger pieces will be broken down to clear them easily.
“We don't want that, we have suffered enough due to the pollution, we want them to pick up the debris in cranes and lorries and just take them. They can break them anywhere, but not here,” said Kappula.
