Demolition prep on — buyers see light at end of tunnel

Noida: Following the Supreme Court order that has now paved the way for the demolition of the Supertech towers in Noida, there is a sigh of relief among homebuyers who have fought a long battle against the builder's injustices.

While their dream homes could not be delivered, the refund of their life savings and hard-earned money is surely set to relieve some of their pain. The two towers to be demolished comprise 915 flats, of which 633 were booked. However, only 252 flat buyers decided to await the final decision of the top court. Nearly 248 took an early refund and 133 chose to re-invest in other Supertech projects.

In the latest order issued by Supreme Court, there are still as many as 38 homebuyers seeking full refunds. While the court had earlier told the builder to pay the money back with a 12 per cent interest, the latest order, also directs it to pay the outstanding bank

loans of homebuyers by March 31 and provide them with the no-objection certificates (NOC) by April 10.

"Not here but somewhere else, we will surely get our dream home. This order will relieve us from the dual burden of rent and bank EMIs. Once we get the refund, we will plan our home with a developer who is reliable and has a record to deliver flats on time," one of the buyers said.

But as this order adds financial burden on Supertech, those who had chosen to re-invest in other projects by the builder are worried that it will once again cite this as an excuse to keep their new projects pending.

"For the past five years, we have been hearing that the builder is facing financial crunch and is unable to complete the projects. The Supreme Court order would add to it and we are worried for the future of those who have invested in other builder's projects," said Ashutosh Verma, a buyer of Supertech's Ecovillage project in Greater Noida West.

Meanwhile, following the directions from the Supreme Court, Noida Authority has to present a final demolition plan within three days with a senior official saying that CEO Ritu Maheshwari will hold a meeting for this in the next 72 hours.

"We will ensure no delay on the part of Noida authority and will draw action plan so that the process takes off within the stipulated time. The Demolition action plan submitted by Supertech in court stated 6 months out of which 3 and half months are demolition time while the rest is for site clearance. The

time has already started from 22 January 2022 and demolition is to be completed within 3 and half months from that date. With the fresh order from honourable Supreme Court the process of demolition will commence within two weeks starting from Monday," said Maheshwari.