Evacuated Residents From Nearby Areas Return After Noida Twin Towers' Demolition

Around 5,000 residents of the two societies, closest to the twin towers – Apex (32 storeys) and Ceyane (29 storeys), were evacuated on Sunday ahead of the 2.30 pm explosion that brought down the towers in just 12 seconds along with thousands of tonnes of debris and clouds of dust that spread in the nearby areas.

About 75 per cent residents of ATS Village and nearly half of Emerald Court returned home by Monday afternoon, a day after the demolition of Supertech's illegal twin towers barely some metres away from the two societies.

A huge mound of debris comprising top three floors of Ceyane toppled during demolition had fallen into the ATS Village compound, damaging a nine metre wall patch. Mayur Mehta, project manager for Edifice Engineering, said, "this particular piece of debris fell inside the range that had already been marked by the demolition team had in its calculation. The damage to the wall was already factored in." The presidents of residents' associations of both societies told PTI that there has been no case of health issue related to post-demolition effects among residents of either societies yet.

The residents also expressed happiness and relief over the illegal structures finally going away, even as concerns remained about the clearance of dust and debris. UBS Teotia, 82, president of Emerald Court residents group said, "There has been no health related issue to anyone in Emerald Court so far. Neither among children, nor even among elders."

Gaurav Mehrotra of Emerald Court said around half of residents of his society had returned by Monday afternoon.  Naresh Keswani said, "the return process is gradual and hassle-free. Some people who had stayed in nearby locations returned last night only, some who had put up in hotels came after 11 am and 12, close to hotels' check out time." Both Mr Mehrotra and Mr Keswani are members of Emerald Court's special task force which was formed for smooth evacuation of residents prior to the Sunday demolition. 

ATS Village president Atul Chaturvedi said around 75 per cent residents of his society have returned till Monday afternoon.  "Only some who left for a longer duration and went to far away places were left to return now," Mr Chaturvedi told PTI.  He added that so far there has been no health related issue to anyone in their society as a result of demolition and its after affects. 

Representatives of both societies said the supplies of cooking gas, electricity and water were running smooth and had been inspected by local officials prior to restoring them for residents.  Emerald Court's Mr Teotia said cleaning of up to 80 per cent of their society has been completed and it is expected to reach pre-demolition condition by Tuesday evening. 

ATS Village's Chaturvedi said his society suffered a lot of dust and even damages to a compound wall which was right next to the twin towers.  "Some cables got entangles in the trees which were close to the compound wall. Some poles also got tilted. The dust is of course there as the direction of wind was towards our society," he said.  "Looks like it will take three to four days for cleanliness to reach pre-demolition condition while the damaged wall would take around a week for repair," he added.

Both Mr Teotia and Mr Chaturvedi described the demolition as "successful and satisfactory".

Cleaning work inside and outside both societies continued in full swing on Monday as several workers of Noida Authority and both societies remained pressed into the job.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)