[MadRash]

I believe Chennai takes the crown now. Not even a single road is driveable. :(

[aerohit]

Looks like most of the india roads are bad

In bangalore, when they lay a nice new road, few months later they destroy it because they needed to lay an underground cable.

[swathyd]

Originally Posted by binaiks

Not just in Cochin, or around Kuttipuram, any stretch of road in Kerala will beat its nearest competitor by a very H-U-G-E margin!

The National Highways (I prefer calling them as "Non-Highways") are the worst of the lot in Kerala - especially NH17 and NH47 (I don't mean other NHs in Kerala are any better). Roads are inexistent in most stretches between Mannuthy and Walayar on NH47. On NH17, Parur to Kodungallur, Ponnani to Edappal (this is now a SH, was earlier part of NH17), Ponnani-Kuttipuram, etc are non-existent.

Here is a sample pic from NH17 (This was shot between Parur and Kodungallur - I drive through this stretch daily).

Attachment 456365

Here, I usually end up taking 25-35 minutes to cover just 11 kms, thanks to the potholes, narrow road and heavy traffic. I then cover 22 kms on the same highway in less than 30 minutes.

Notice the width of the road. The Santro ahead of me has very little space to its left.

EDIT: This pothole was recently "patched". But the condition is deteriorating again.

These are nothing try kannur - kasargode -manglore - kundapura routes .

[aryasanyal]

Originally Posted by swathyd

These are nothing try kannur - kasargode -manglore - kundapura routes .

+1 to that.
I recently did a road trip covering both the Mangalore-Kasargode and the Mangalore-Karwar stretches. In short it was horrible, especially the Mangalore-Kumbala and the stretch around 20kms radius of Bhatkal.
There wasn't any road to speak of. Too bad!

[aerohit]

Rod works - Good roads are intentionally made bad for 2-3 rains and later emergency reinstatement comes with unlimited amounts due to this emergency and this is a common scene on every street. Bad roads are good for business.

[sgiitk]

I will vote for NH92 (Etawah-Gwalior) being maintained by the NHAI. Took me three hours for 40-45km on the Bhind-Mehgaon-Gohad stretch. Even trucks were stopping to see how to navigate.

[GSMINC]

Originally Posted by MadRash

I believe Chennai takes the crown now. Not even a single road is driveable. :(

There is no point in nominating city roads as every city would have its own share of bad roads,
Let us stick to just National Highways/State Highways/Roads of Tourist or Economic Importance.

[Speed Pujari]

I covered 70 kms in 4 hours with nearly zero traffic on Mysore road- Talakadu road.
My bad I did not go through Kanakpura.

[Ragul]

I just came back from NH68 between Krishnagiri and Tiruvanamalai.


Horrible road! My vote.

Originally Posted by Ragul

I just came back from NH68 between Krishnagiri and Tiruvanamalai.

It is NH 66. Nowadays, I take a detour of extra 100+ km to avoid this horrible stretch of about 100 km.

[mayjay]

One of the worst I've seen was NH59 which we had taken while coming from Mandu to Indore.

This was a 'highway' being taken care of by the National Highway Authority of this country. It is a shame that the people who work there don't even take the name of the organization seriously. The only thing they are an authority on is laziness, incompetence and probably corruption.

Seriously, here is an organization that does not have to work to get revenues. Revenues from the fuel cess are guaranteed. God knows where it all goes.

I really wonder if this is the best that we as a nation have to offer.

On a different note, from time to time there is a feature in Top Gear which talks about the best driving roads in the world (europe, probably). Wonder why auto shows here don't take up the challenge of finding the worst driving road in the world. The negative publicity might at least force some important people (i.e. judiciary) to take notice and start asking questions.

[sandygordon]

Originally Posted by binaiks

Not just in Cochin, or around Kuttipuram, any stretch of road in Kerala will beat its nearest competitor by a very H-U-G-E margin!

The National Highways (I prefer calling them as "Non-Highways") are the worst of the lot in Kerala - especially NH17 and NH47 (I don't mean other NHs in Kerala are any better). Roads are inexistent in most stretches between Mannuthy and Walayar on NH47. On NH17, Parur to Kodungallur, Ponnani to Edappal (this is now a SH, was earlier part of NH17), Ponnani-Kuttipuram, etc are non-existent.

Here is a sample pic from NH17 (This was shot between Parur and Kodungallur - I drive through this stretch daily).

Attachment 456365

Here, I usually end up taking 25-35 minutes to cover just 11 kms, thanks to the potholes, narrow road and heavy traffic. I then cover 22 kms on the same highway in less than 30 minutes.

Notice the width of the road. The Santro ahead of me has very little space to its left.

EDIT: This pothole was recently "patched". But the condition is deteriorating again.

Parur Kodungallur strech could be the narrowest part of NH 17 betwwen mumbai and edapally. Electric posts are around a couple of feet in to the tarring.. Horrible..

About Kuttipuram strech
Cannot be included in bad roads
Because there was no road from Kuttipuram to Kunnamkulam, until around a year back.

Originally Posted by J.Ravi

It is NH 66. Nowadays, I take a detour of extra 100+ km to avoid this horrible stretch of about 100 km.

I thought the Krishnagiri-Thiruvannamalai section of NH 66 was the worst stretch; but that was in 2011. Now, the prize goes to Batal-Gramphoo section in Himachal Pradesh, where my Linea had more than 50 underbody hits, but survived the battle! It is a misnomer to call it a road; it's only a track formed by military 4x4 vehicles, private trucks and Tata Sumos depending upon the ground situation there. It had all the ingredients to make it the worst road: horizontal and vertical curves, stream-crossings, narrow road with full of stones and boulders of all sizes, to name a few!



On one very narrow S curve on a ghat section, there was a water-crossing with full of boulders. Slowly and carefully, I drove my Linea on knee-deep water and entered the last turn on the S curve, only to face a fully-loaded truck blocking the road! The truck driver signalled his inability to go in his reverse direction as there were couple of trucks behind him. The road was just wide enough for a truck and nothing more. The outside was freezing with sub-zero temperature. So, I somehow reversed my Linea in the double-curve, but every time, I ended up dashing against boulders submerged in the water and invisible on my Linea's rear-view mirrors. Seeing my predicament, the driver of the PB-registered truck got down, went behind my Linea, stood in knee-deep freezing water and guided me to a wider portion of the road. He then went back to his truck, started and crossed my Linea. I thanked him and allowed the other two trucks to cross me. When the road was clear, I again drove my Linea on that double-curve and safely came out of knee-deep water. I cannot forget those horrific moments in the remaining part of my life and neither my Linea!

[CoolFire]

This one really takes the crown. God, you got more courage than an Everest climber.

Sure we cannot have enough of SUVs in India as long as our authorities are hell bent on giving us such play tracks in the name of highways.

[Ragul]

Originally Posted by J.Ravi

I thought the Krishnagiri-Thiruvannamalai section of NH 66 was the worst stretch; but that was in 2011. Now, the prize goes to Batal-Gramphoo section in Himachal Pradesh, where my Linea had more than 50 underbody hits, but survived the battle!

I've been on both these roads. You really took an ordinary car all they way there? Where did you go? Kaaza?

--R