Noida's twin towers demolition: 'No fly zone' for drones on Aug 28

Noida, Aug 24: Drones will not be allowed to fly in the "exclusion zone" of Supertech's illegal twin towers when they will be demolished on August 28, officials said on Wednesday.

They added that drones will be allowed beyond the exclusion zone only on the basis of permission by the police. The nearly-100 metre tall structures -- taller than Delhi's iconic Qutub Minar -- in Noida's Sector 93A would be razed to ground at 2.30 pm on Sunday.

While all residents of two adjoining societies -- Emerald Court and ATS Village -- would be evacuated, an exclusion zone has been marked around the twin towers where no person, vehicle or animal would be allowed during the demolition process, the officials said.

"The exclusion zone will include an area of 450 metres in front side of the twin towers overseeing a road and a city park. On the other sides of the towers, the exclusion zone will be till 250 metres,” Gautam Buddh Nagar's Deputy Commissioner of Police (Headquarters) Ram Badan Singh told PTI.

"The exclusion zone will be a 'no fly zone' for drones. However, drones could be used beyond the exclusion zone but for that a permission would be required from the local police well in advance,” Singh said. The exclusion zone also includes a patch of Noida-Greater Noida Expressway, where vehicular traffic would remain halted from 2.15 pm to 2.45 pm on August 28, he said.

The measures are being taken as safety precaution, according to officials, who said around 3,700 kilograms of explosives has been rigged into the skeletal structures of the twin towers for implosion. The razing of the Apex and Ceyane towers would leave behind a whopping 35,000 cubic metres of debris -- a large part of which would be accommodated in the basement of the towers while remaining would be moved out to an isolated location within Noida and processed scientifically, they said.

The demolition of Supertech's twin towers in Noida's Sector 93A comes in pursuance of a Supreme Court order that found the structures to be illegal and built in violation of norms.