India, Jan. 24 -- Three years of sweat, a lifetime of savings and a two-storey dream house that was just waiting for its final coat of paint - everything stood ready. Then came a notice that shook the ground beneath Punjab farmer Sukhpreet Singh's feet. His newly-built kothi in Barnala district lay directly in the path of the Ludhiana-Bathinda highway being constructed under the Centre's Bharatmala project. The message was blunt - The house will have to go.

For Sukhpreet, demolition was not an option. The INR 60-lakh, 2,500-square-feet house was not just brick and mortar - it was the shared dream of a family that had lived for decades in cramped spaces. Built between 2017 and 2020, the two-storey structure symbolised stability, dignity a...