What TV doesn't, print can't; we deliver.
What TV doesn't, print can't; we deliver.
The twin towers of Noida constructed by Supertech grabbed global eyeballs after they were razed to the ground on the orders of the Supreme Court of India. What remains to be further demolished is the deadly nexus between officials of the New Okhla Industrial Development Authority (NOIDA) and the builders. A bench of Justices DY Chandrachud and MR Shah had come down heavily upon this corrupt nexus while ordering the demolition of illegally-built high-rise twin towers in the flagrant violation of the existing environmental and building bye-laws.
The apex court had asked the government to conduct a probe into the matter and fixed the responsibility. A total of 30 people, including four builders and two architects along with 24 top officials of NOIDA Authority, were named in a case of criminal conspiracy. The Uttar Pradesh government had formed a special investigation team (SIT) on the orders of the top court and an FIR was lodged against these 30 people.
On August 31, the Supreme Court ordered the demolition of the twin towers. NOIDA Authority conducted an internal inquiry and named four directors and two architects of the Supertech Group were also named in the FIR. The state government had sought files of these officials, some of them now retired, to initiate action.
Accordingly, the Yogi Adityanath government had sought the files and personal details of Mohinder Singh, former CEO of Noida authority; SK Dwivedi, former CEO of Noida Authority; PN Batham, CEO (now retired), Yashpal Singh, and former OSD to then NOIDA authority CEO (now retired). Retired ACEO RP Arora, retired associate town planner Rituraj, retired town planner AK Mishra, former senior town planner Rajpal Kaushik, former chief architectural law planner Tribhuvan Singh, retired chief Vastu law planner VA Dev Pujari and others.
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After the Supreme Court judgement on August 31, 2021, the UP government held these people responsible for creating the illegal structure in the flood plains without seeking necessary environmental clearances. Local residents who felt threatened by these monstrous towers had approached the authorities and the top court. The very construction and the subsequent demolition of the twin towers symbolise the deep-rooted corruption and the builder-official nexus.
It needs to be probed as to how the area GH-04 of Sector 93 was allotted to Supertech to constrict the twin towers — 16 and 17. The promoter built these towers in the green belt by flouting all existing environmental laws. NOIDA Authority has the power to change the land use and allow the construction of the towers, but it was not done in this case.
The real game started when officials of the NOIDA Authority kept revising the project to allow more floors in these structures. In all, this project was revised thrice. Supertech had purchased Floor Area Ratio (FAR) twice for Rs 8 crore and Rs 15 crore, respectively. The NOIDA Authority was richer by Rs 23 crore and its officials virtually gave the builder a go-ahead and the final decision on the height of the twin towers was left to the builder.
It was during the government of then chief minister Mulayam Singh Yadav that Supertech was allotted 48,263 square metre of land on November 23, 2004, and the Authority allotted another 556.51 square metre of land on June 21, 2006. Promoters of Supertech moved an application on November 19, 2009. Officials of the NOIDA Authority were in a tearing hurry and revised the project for the second time. Supertech purchased 33 per cent of FAR for Rs 8 crore.
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The problem started when Supertech applied for purchasing the FAR for the third time. Lo and behold! It was also approved by the eager officials of the Authority. With the three increases in the FAR, the original ground-plus-24-floor plan was increased to 40 floors with a height of 121 metres.
Supertech purchased FAR for Rs 15 crore on October 25, 2011, at its whims and fancies in connivance with pliable officials.
Connivance between the officials of the NOIDA Authority could be judged by the way they granted the Occupancy Certificate (OC) without a mandatory structural safety audit. If that was not enough, the Authority granted Supertech the third OC without even obtaining environmental clearance, which formed the basis of the builder’s defeat in the court. The Supreme Court went into the merits of the appeal by the petitioners and ordered the demolition of the twin towers as the very safety of the residents and that of the people who were supposed to live in these two towers of corruption, was of primary concern.
It would be pertinent to mention here that the Residents Welfare Associations (RWA) had filed a writ petition before the Allahabad High Court, arguing that the National Building Code 2005 and provisions made under Noida Housing rules 2010 were not followed by the builder. The minimum distance between towers was not left as per the laid down rules. The RWAs also accused the builder of not taking the consent of the residents before going ahead with the construction.
The high court, in its judgement in April 2014, had ordered the demolition of the structure and also ordered penal action against the NOIDA Authority officials and the builder.
In April 2014, the Allahabad High Court passed orders to bring down towers T-16 and T-17 and also took action against the builder and the officers of the Authority. The builder filed a special leave petition (SLP) before the Supreme Court, challenging the high court ruling. The apex court upheld the high court order on August 31, 2021, directing the builder to bear the demolition cost.
