Delhi-Dehradun Expressway: Allahabad HC's Verdict On House Delaying Project In Mandola Likely On April 29

Delhi-Dehradun Expressway Update: In a compensation dispute involving a two-storey home in Mandola that has delayed the construction of the Delhi-Dehradun Expressway, the Allahabad High Court's Lucknow bench may render a decision next week. When the matter was heard on April 16, a two-judge panel consisting of Justices Rajan Roy and Om Prakash Shukla gave the UP Housing Board and the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) three days to submit their counter-affidavits.

A person familiar with the case told TOI that he expects the HC bench to deliver the verdict at the next hearing on April 29, paving the way for the opening of two stretches of the Eastern Peripheral Expressway (EPE) - a 14.7km section from Delhi's Akshardham to UP Border (Ghaziabad) and a 16km section from UP Gate in Loni (Ghaziabad) to Khekra (Baghpat).

"The project is being monitored at the PMO and (Union) ministry level, and an early outcome of the order is pivotal in the larger interest of the people. We hope that the HC will deliver a final verdict in the case, paving the way for the opening of two stretches of the corridor, where we are told 98% of the work is complete," he said on Monday.

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The conflict began in 1998 when the UP Housing Board began purchasing Mandola farmlands for a housing project. Over the years, many farmers near the Delhi-Ghaziabad border handed up their property, but Veersen Saroha refused compensation and kept his 1,600 square metre home there.

He petitioned the Allahabad High Court, which halted the purchase of his property. Veersen passed away before the case was resolved, but other landowners' complaints and requests for greater compensation prevented the Mandola Housing Scheme from ever being implemented.

The Delhi-Saharanpur-Dehradun Economic Corridor, which involves constructing the expressway, was finalised by NHAI between 2017 and 2020. The UP Housing Board complied and transferred the plot to NHAI when the highways authority sought Veersen's land to construct a ramp to the expressway.

Last year, Veersen's grandson Lakshyaveer moved Supreme Court, claiming the land was not entitled to be given away by the Housing Board. Redirecting the disagreement to the HC's Lucknow bench, the top court requested that the case be expedited.