Delhi-Dehradun Expressway is blocked due to a house coming in the way, picture of the house went viral on the internet
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At that time Mandola used to be a rural area, where houses and farms were spread. In 1998, the UP Housing Board issued a notification to acquire 2,614 acres of land from 6 villages near the Delhi-Ghaziabad border for the Mandola Housing Scheme. NHAI gradually persuaded the families to give their land. But Veersen refused and went to Allahabad HC.
The matter reached the court… NHAI buys roads at a high price to build roads. But sometimes the matter gets stuck and people are adamant on not selling their house. In such a situation, the matter reaches the court. Something similar is happening with the Delhi Dehradun Expressway. Where in the 90s, Veersen Saroha and his family used to live in a small house of 1,600 square meters in Mandola, then the picture of the land was completely different.
At that time Mandola used to be a rural area, where houses and farms were spread. In 1998, the UP Housing Board issued a notification to acquire 2,614 acres of land from 6 villages near the Delhi-Ghaziabad border for the Mandola Housing Scheme. NHAI gradually persuaded the families to give their land. But Veersen refused and went to Allahabad HC.
The matter reached the court…
The Allahabad High Court stayed the acquisition of Veerasen’s land. The housing scheme never got off the ground due to protests and delays in the process. So when the NHAI started looking for land for the Delhi-Dehradun Expressway, the Housing Board helped it. But Veerasen’s family strongly opposed it.
The house built in the 90s still stands exactly the same. While everything around it has disappeared. The expressway has been built on one end to Akshardham and on the other end to the hills of Uttarakhand. But Veerasen’s house still remains where it was. Between Akshardham and the Eastern Peripheral Expressway (EPE), the NHAI is constructing the expressway in two parts.
The first is 14.7 km from Akshardham to the UP border in Loni and the second is 16 km from Loni to Khekra in EPE. Both these sections of the expressway have been completed. But even now, construction of that part of the road has not been completed because of Veerasen’s 1,600 square meter house in the middle of it. This 212 kilometer expressway is expected to open in June.
But when this road opens, Veerasen’s now vacant two-storey house will play a special role. An NHAI official told TOI that ‘the work is stopped due to a case in the court, the house owner and his family have filed a case in the Supreme Court.’
94 percent people have taken the payment
Those who refused to give their land in this project wanted the compensation rates to be increased. According to TOI, Veersen had approached the Allahabad HC in 2007. But due to the court proceedings going on for several years, the UP Housing Board was forced to determine his land in 2010. Veersen died before the case could be resolved.
Between 2017 and 2020, the NHAI project to build an expressway took effect. A source in the Housing Board said that NHAI needed land near Mandola to build a ramp. For which in 2020 the Housing Board gave a piece of land to NHAI. This house was also on the same piece of land.
In 2024, Veersen’s grandson Lakshyavir approached the SC. Where it was given that the land is not to be given to the Housing Board. A person associated with the case told on the condition of anonymity that the SC has handed over the petition to the Lucknow Bench of the High Court. Now the Lucknow Bench has fixed the date of hearing on April 16. There are also instructions from the Supreme Court to expedite the matter as this project is in the wider interest of the people.
The government built a highway next to the house…
In January 2025, a similar case came to light from China. But there the government played with the owner and built a highway around the house. Actually, a person named Huang Ping has lost everything due to greed for more money. Ping expected more money from the government.
