[Ardy]

My parents make frequent road trips to my native place in Shahganj, Jaunpur in Uttar Pradesh from Hyderabad. The typical route that they follow is:

Day 1: Hyderabad - Nagpur - Jabalpur (NH7)
Day 2: Jabalpur - Katni - Rewa - Mangawan (NH7) - Allahabad (NH27) - Badlapur - Shahganj (MDRs)

The typical return route followed is:

Day 1: Shahganj - Allahabad - Mangawan - Rewa - Katni - Jabalpur - Nagpur
Day 2: Nagpur - Hyderabad

On a typical travel, barring the section of Mangawan - Allahabad (NH27), the roads are fine. This time around when they travelled on 18-09-2011, the Nagpur - Jabalpur section was not at its best and had considerable amount of potholes. The entire stretch from Jabalpur to Allahabad was in terrible shape, in fact there were no roads. This stretch of approx 350 KM took them 10 hours to cover, which does not take more than 7 hours inspite of the everlasting bad conditions of Mangawan - Allahabad section.

On the return leg after Dussera, they want to look for alternate routes. The alternates that are being explored are:

Alternate 1:

Shahganj - Allahabad - Kanpur - Jhansi - Sagar - Jabalpur - Nagpur - Hyderabad

Alternate 2:

Shahganj - Allahabad - Kanpur - Chattarpur - Shahgarh - Jabalpur - Nagpur - Hyderabad

Which of the 2 alternate would be better? Are there any other options?

Appreciate the latest road conditions.

PS: Parents typically start early in the morning (5ish) and try to reach desired destination by sunset. No driving in the dark.

Cheers,
Ardy

[ottocycle]

Thanks Ardy. That was quite useful information about the road condition, since, my relatives are also planning to travel from Varanasi to Hyderabad. They will probably be taking NH7 all the way.

Regarding reaching Allahabad via Kanpur, wouldn't that be almost double the distance?

[Ardy]

Originally Posted by ottocycle

Thanks Ardy. That was quite useful information about the road condition, since, my relatives are also planning to travel from Varanasi to Hyderabad. They will probably be taking NH7 all the way.

Regarding reaching Allahabad via Kanpur, wouldn't that be almost double the distance?

It would probably be about 300-350 KM extra. But, I am not aware of the road condtions, and that's what I am seeking.

The trouble is between Allahabad / Varanasi to Jabalpur. The roads are in a terrible condition.

Cheers,

[Ardy]

Bumping the thread to get some responses. Anyone?

Cheers,

[hvkumar]

The rerouting via Jhansi is a good idea since you can take advantage of 4-laned roads via Kanpur - except for the NH2-Orai sector. The Jhansi-Sagar sector via Lalitpur is not complete and has some bad sections, although many sections are also now fully 4-laned.

However, considering that your original route and the alternative route both have bad sections, is it really worth avoiding NH7 from Allahabad to Jabalpur and taking a long detour?

[LongDrive lover]

Very useful info Ardy.
When I drove on NH7 Lakhnadon - Jabalpur- Allahabad in night during May2011, there were quite a few bad section between Jabalpur-Rewa; Rewa onwards till Manegawan, road re-laying was going on; Manegawan - Allahabad NH27 was bad as usual though, some 10 kms from Manegawan to Allahabad side road was newly build, but next 20 kms was terrible.
Seems like rain has taken its toll on 2 lane part of NH7 Jabalpur onwards towards Varansi.
Regarding other options, I'll go by HVK sir's opinion. Detours will be too long, in any case never ever think about taking Kanpur-Chhatarpur (Option 2) in any car including SUVs.

[dave7377]

Ardy can you pl. tell how much time it took for your parents to travel Nagpur Jabalpur stretch. iam also planning to take Nh-07 for nagpur jabalpur stretch this diwali.
regards
amit

[hvkumar]

Update on the roads:

NH7 is bad almost all the way north of Jabalpur via Seoni, Laknadon, Jabalpur & Katni.
There are no pot holes, says my friend who drove that way 2 days ago, only craters.
He took 5.5 hours to do the 90 kms between Jabalpur & Katni, but after Maihar road improves somewhat - he did the 70 kms in 2.5 hours.

The alternative route people are taking to partly avoid the mess is from Jabalpur via Umariya direct to Rewa.

Beyond Rewa, NH7 is terrible via Mirzapur to Varanasi.

However, one silver lining is that the Rewa-Allahabd road is in good condition, except fro 10 kms between Garh & Katra where roads are being relaid.

[dave7377]

Thanks Kumar Sir. Any updates on jalgaon-Burhanpur-Khnadwa-Hoshangabad section. i want to go to Jabalpur from Surat. Now since Nagpur Jabalpur section is bad, iam thinking of this route.

Originally Posted by hvkumar

Update on the roads:

NH7 is bad almost all the way north of Jabalpur via Seoni, Laknadon, Jabalpur & Katni.
There are no pot holes, says my friend who drove that way 2 days ago, only craters.
He took 5.5 hours to do the 90 kms between Jabalpur & Katni, but after Maihar road improves somewhat - he did the 70 kms in 2.5 hours.

The alternative route people are taking to partly avoid the mess is from Jabalpur via Umariya direct to Rewa.

Beyond Rewa, NH7 is terrible via Mirzapur to Varanasi.

However, one silver lining is that the Rewa-Allahabd road is in good condition, except fro 10 kms between Garh & Katra where roads are being relaid.

[hvkumar]

Originally Posted by dave7377

Thanks Kumar Sir. Any updates on jalgaon-Burhanpur-Khnadwa-Hoshangabad section. i want to go to Jabalpur from Surat. Now since Nagpur Jabalpur section is bad, iam thinking of this route.

I heard that Khandwa-Hoshangabad is good this year, and normally the Jalgaon-Burhanpur-Khandwa sector does not get affected by rains.

[Ardy]

Originally Posted by dave7377

Ardy can you pl. tell how much time it took for your parents to travel Nagpur Jabalpur stretch. iam also planning to take Nh-07 for nagpur jabalpur stretch this diwali.
regards
amit

Dave,

My parents took 5.5 - 6 hours to cover Nagpur - Jabalpur about a fortnight back. IIRC, they left Nagpur around 11:45 AM and reached Jabalpur around 5ish. This was all the way on NH7

Cheers,

[ottocycle]

Originally Posted by hvkumar

Update on the roads:

NH7 is bad almost all the way north of Jabalpur via Seoni, Laknadon, Jabalpur & Katni.
There are no pot holes, says my friend who drove that way 2 days ago, only craters.
He took 5.5 hours to do the 90 kms between Jabalpur & Katni, but after Maihar road improves somewhat - he did the 70 kms in 2.5 hours.

The alternative route people are taking to partly avoid the mess is from Jabalpur via Umariya direct to Rewa.

Beyond Rewa, NH7 is terrible via Mirzapur to Varanasi.

However, one silver lining is that the Rewa-Allahabd road is in good condition, except fro 10 kms between Garh & Katra where roads are being relaid.

Hi hvkumar,

Are you suggesting not to take NH7 between Varanasi to Rewa. What would be the best route for someone travelling from Varanasi to Hyderabad. From your post looks like it would be. Varanasi -> Allahabad (NH2) -> Rewa -> Jabalpur -> Nagpur -> Hyderabad.

[hvkumar]

Originally Posted by ottocycle

Hi hvkumar,

Are you suggesting not to take NH7 between Varanasi to Rewa. What would be the best route for someone travelling from Varanasi to Hyderabad. From your post looks like it would be. Varanasi -> Allahabad (NH2) -> Rewa -> Jabalpur -> Nagpur -> Hyderabad.

Yes, it is better to come via Allahabad instead of taking NH7 from Varanasi to Rewa.

[ottocycle]

Originally Posted by hvkumar

Yes, it is better to come via Allahabad instead of taking NH7 from Varanasi to Rewa.

Hi hvkumar/Ardy,

My inlaws are traveling from varanasi to hyderabad this weekend.

What are the budget places to stay do you suggest in Jabalpur, Nagpur. Also, if they want stop for one more night somewhere between Nagpur and Hydarabad (distance is 600+ km so), which place do you recommend to stop. Would it be Adilabad or warangal or any other place (any good hotel/lodge info would be helpful)? They are completely unaware of the telugu language.

[hvkumar]

Originally Posted by ottocycle

Hi hvkumar/Ardy,

My inlaws are traveling from varanasi to hyderabad this weekend.

What are the budget places to stay do you suggest in Jabalpur, Nagpur. Also, if they want stop for one more night somewhere between Nagpur and Hydarabad (distance is 600+ km so), which place do you recommend to stop. Would it be Adilabad or warangal or any other place (any good hotel/lodge info would be helpful)? They are completely unaware of the telugu language.

Attachment 835765

Instead of Jabalpur, I would suggest they go on to Seoni. Just before the Seoni bypass starts, there is a good motel - unable to recall name (Lalit Tyagi will know) - and a little further down MPTDC has a good jungle resort at Rookad on the highway itself. Pointless to go into messy Jabalpur town, better to take the bypass.

Between Nagpur & Hyderabad, best is to stay at Adilabad (Hotel Ravi Teja).

YOu do not pass Warangal on the way, as you have written above.