[SamitMukherjee]

My colleagues will be travelling from Durgapur to Guwahati and Shillong this month. They will be driving a Swift and intend to leave Durgapur on 22nd February afternoon and reach Shillong by 23rd February late night.
I have suggested the below route-
Day1-
Durgapur-Bardhaman-SH7- Moregram-Farakka-Malda-Raiganj-Botolbari/Dalkhola-Islampur-Siliguri

Day2-
Siliguri-Hasimara-Srirampur-Bongaigaon-Nalbari-Rangia-Changsari-Guwahati-Shillong

My questions are-
1. Are these routes ok? Particularly Durgapur to Siliguri stretch
2. Is it possible to bypass Malda town. As they will be reaching Malda in late evening, transversing the town will take unnecessary time
3. After dusk will it be safe to take Botolbari-Dhantola route. Or sticking to Dalkhola is better.

[BlackPearl]

Originally Posted by SamitMukherjee

I have suggested the below route-
Day1-
Durgapur-Bardhaman-SH7- Moregram-Farakka-Malda-Raiganj-Botolbari/Dalkhola-Islampur-Siliguri

Day2-
Siliguri-Hasimara-Srirampur-Bongaigaon-Nalbari-Rangia-Changsari-Guwahati-Shillong

The route for Day 1 that you have mentioned is perfect. For Day 2, ask your friend to go via Siliguri - Sevoke - Damdim - Hashimara route.

I will try to answer your questions -

1. Are these routes ok? Particularly Durgapur to Siliguri stretch

Ans: As mentioned above. Durgapur to Siliguri stretch is fine.

2. Is it possible to bypass Malda town. As they will be reaching Malda in late evening, transversing the town will take unnecessary time

Ans: Yes Malda Bypass is operational now. Please follow Google maps.

3. After dusk will it be safe to take Botolbari-Dhantola route. Or sticking to Dalkhola is better.

Ans: I have always taken Botolbari-Dhantola route between 2 am and 4 am in the morning and have never faced any issue. There are barricades and local guards at intervals. The road is quite narrow and there are many villages on the route. So please ask you friend to drive carefully.

[SamitMukherjee]

Originally Posted by BlackPearl

The route for Day 1 that you have mentioned is perfect. For Day 2, ask your friend to go via Siliguri - Sevoke - Damdim - Hashimara route.

Thanks BlackPearl for pointing out the route in details and for the replies.
I have one more query about speed limits/Interceptor around Siliguri.
Is there any particular stretch where speed limit is restricted.
I understand the road beyond Siliguri goes through forests, so there may be speed restrictions.
Still details about any particular stretch or speed limit will be helpful.

[hothatchaway]

Siliguri oodlabari malbazar hasimara route is scenic, not a stretch one would want to rush through. It passes through the gorumara corridor which is an elephant crossing zone, so cautious driving is advised. The stretch from malbazar to jaldapara has several diversions since road widening is in progress, so one slows down frequently.

I have seen interceptors especially in the jaldapara stretch. Advisable to drive within limits.

The 30 km stretch after crossing over into Assam towards bongaigaon has some big craters and frequent diversions. Cautious driving needed especially in a hatch. Road improves thereafter.

[Samratrek]

Originally Posted by SamitMukherjee

Thanks BlackPearl for pointing out the route in details and for the replies.
I have one more query about speed limits/Interceptor around Siliguri.
Is there any particular stretch where speed limit is restricted.
I understand the road beyond Siliguri goes through forests, so there may be speed restrictions.
Still details about any particular stretch or speed limit will be helpful.

Between Bagdogra & Siliguri now two new flyovers are operational & there are cops with speed cameras just 3/4 kms before approaching the flyovers,they shift positions but mostly one is always there & can be found at any place in this stretch,there are speed limits of 40kmph & 60kmph ,but the roads are so smooth with perfect banking that you won't feel you have touched 100kmph unless you have your eyes on the speedometer.
Regards
Samrat

[SamitMukherjee]

Is the complete stretch between Bardhaman and Khargram/ Moregram not operational? G-map is showing road closure near Nowapara and diversion through Katwa.

[DrRC83]

Originally Posted by SamitMukherjee

Is the complete stretch between Bardhaman and Khargram/ Moregram not operational? G-map is showing road closure near Nowapara and diversion through Katwa.

No.

The bridge on the river Ajay is under renovation, so the road is closed.

Also a small bridge near Burwan (7 km before kuli) is closed for heavy vehicles - cars may pass through.

But the diverted route via Katwa is in very good condition and I think it has lesser number of bumps.

At night it takes more or less 45 min to 1 hour from Futishanko to Bardhaman and +15 min during day traffic.

[SamitMukherjee]

Originally Posted by DrRC83

The bridge on the river Ajay is under renovation, so the road is closed.

The bridge over Ajay seems to be open now for light traffic.
My colleagues just crossed it. Although signs of some work in pogress is there.

[indrasis_gun]

Can anyone confirm what is the latest condition of roads from Burdwan to Siliguri? All inputs are welcome.

[hothatchaway]

Originally Posted by indrasis_gun

Can anyone confirm what is the latest condition of roads from Burdwan to Siliguri? All inputs are welcome.

I went Siliguri bound on 24th Feb leaving Kolkata at 4 AM. Took the usual route through Burdwan, Khargram, Futisanko but turned right at Kuli chowrasta and went through Kandi, Gokarna before merging on the main 4 lane HW just before Palsanda toll. It was longer but enjoyed a good 2 lane stretch and avoided the Sherpur,Nakpur stretch which can be congested. From Morgram onwards it was predictable and smooth barring some congestion at Kaliachak where I followed local traffic to get by. Reached Mainak Siliguri at 7 PM

On our way back this Tuesday, I decided to take the longer detour through Ketugram and Katwa bypass and then passing through Bhatar (avoiding the straight route to Burdwan) While this added about 25 odd kms, I savored an excellent and wide 2 lane stretch devoid of nasty speedbreakers. Did not add too much time either to the final equation.

Note - All the tolled stretches from Palsanda onwards are excellent with Fastag working seamlessly. Malda bypass looks complete now judging from the surface quality. Expect congestion at Sujapur and/or Kaliachak. Some quick thinking and mild off roading should see you bypass these deux enfants terribles!

[Samratrek]

Yesterday drove from Siliguri , Hakimpara to Kolkata, did one big mistake of not following the advice of Google Maps, which was suggesting to turn right from Moregram & SH7/SH11 to Bardhaman, instead had some notion that NH34 is better with the new Bethuaduyari stretch,it was a biggest nightmare & it took me around 16 hours to reach Kolkata.

I started from Raxaul(Nepal border) on 16th afternoon & used to the route Motihari-Muzaffarpur-Darbhanga-Dalkhola-Islampur-Siliguri.

Stayed in Siliguri for 2 days & left for Kolkata on 20th June.

Faced congestions (30 minute) in Raigunj, 1.5 hours in Sujapur,expected another congestion in Farakka barage but it was fine.

I started from Siliguri sharp at 6.30 am & reached Moregram at 1 pm.

Had lunch in Moregram & started at 1.30 PM & reached Kolkata at 10.30 pm.

It was the worst stretch I had ever driven in my life,it was so horrible that i lost all my mental tracks to recall where all I faced bad roads but it was mostly the Krishnanagar-Ranaghat-Kolkata stretch & it was dark & i cant recall how many craters I have hit.Added to this there were severe congestions at many places in Krishnanagar entry & Barasat as well.Not heeding google maps put me in such misery.

Another thing to note the Dhantola-Botolbari stretch of 62 kms was OK,but the last 25 kms on the Botolbari side was horrible with new craters coming up everywhere & this 62 km stretch took me around 2 hours.

Also on my onward journey to Siliguri when I was coming from Purnea I found the about 1km before Dalkhola a huge traffic jam & many smaller vehicles were using the right side of the road which incidentally also has the flyover for vehicles coming from Siliguri side to move easily to Purnea,I took an U turn & used this incorrect approach but just glided my way towards Siliguri not even wasting 5 minutes.I think those who are coming from Raigunj side can take a left turn to enter some village road which connects to NH31 a bit away towards the western approach on NH31 to Dalkhola & use this flyover.

I will attach some videos of the journey.

The Dhantola-Botolbari Stretch...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RVA1vxHZ2Uk

More to come...

[Samratrek]

Some more videos of the Siliguri -Kolkata stretch....
The rudel road...

https://youtu.be/d4vtKiZQ4OY

another video of this stretch which bypasses Dalkhola....

https://youtu.be/80ZplMESDKQ

The diversions & road widening on the Raigunj section....

https://youtu.be/WTre0P1QBx0

https://youtu.be/6Aady19EB6g

The excellent Matigara-Bagdogra stretch.....

https://youtu.be/DzmHKxJ-0dw

The Malda section approach,Malda bypass,Farakka -Baharampur stretch

https://youtu.be/2yK5pEQ9eus

https://youtu.be/ApEZyuDk7iI

https://youtu.be/-y5kKgPGg8Q

https://youtu.be/Luk5uEmyDhE

[indrasis_gun]

Onward Journey:
Siliguri to Dalkhola: Good 4 lane with occasional huge potholes

Dalkhola to Raigunj: there was jam from Dalkhola toll upto Karandighi approximate ly for 30 kms. From Dalkhola toll to Raiganj took seven hours with driving on right side a lot of times.

Raiganj to Moregram: Good 4 lane road mostly with small jam in Sujapur.

Moregram to Burdwan: Good roads mostly.

Burdwan to Kolkata: Superb road as usual.

Return Journey:
Till 10 km before Moregram it was all good. But then started lines of truck as the 2 km connector of SH7 and NH34 was closed due to ongoing work. Constantly drove through right side till Moregram and then Police diverted via worst village road. Finally reached NH34 after 5 km torture on my Swift.

Moregram to Malda: Good 4 lane road mostly.

Malda to Raiganj: This 75 km is in absolute horrible condition although 4 laned. I wonder why we pay toll for this section.

Reached Raigunj in morning 7 am. Such was the jam in Dalkhola previous night that volvo buses of previous evening which started from Siliguri for Kolkata at 7 pm were entering Raigunj at 7 am next day. So took the Bengal to Bengal road. Middle 15 km after Rudel of this 65 km stretch is in horrible condition and large buses and trucks were constantly coming from opposite side which made driving extremely strenuous and stressful for me in incessant rain. My Swift took 3 underbelly hits here.

From Dalkhola to Siliguri the road was good but the flyovers after Islampur are in bad shape. Also there was small congestion in Kishanganj too where we lost half an hour.

So the Kolkata-Siliguri stretch is in much worse condition than the Siliguri-Kolkata stretch. At least three times trucks in front of me somehow did not topple when they landed on potholes.

Siliguri to Kolkata: 16 hours drive time
Kolkata to Siliguri: 19 hours drive time

[Samratrek]

The Kolkata to Siliguri & viceversa is still turning out to be a nightmare ,if some portions are improving somewhere else there is a hiccup ,wish we are able to do this journey in 10 hours someday.....

[Samratrek]

Ventured out yesterday from my present lockdown based home in Dunlop ,Kolkata & tried to check out the road till Moregram where it connects to NH34.
I left Kolkata at around 9.30 am & reached Moregram around 2 pm.
I followed google maps & thus used SH7 entirely to reach Moregram.
Congestion at Bardhaman has reduced considerably due to the new bridge & a couple of flyovers ,its much ease to drive.
The entire SH7 was in excellent condition ,just around 5/6 kms were having slight shallow craters ,but the entire 122 km from Bbardhaman to Moregram was in perfect state,there are a series of speed breakers in the first 40 kms after Bardhaman.
As I was just approaching the NH34 I found the approach closed by the police,probably monsoon water flooding it appears,I had to take a detour a very narrow village road to connect to NH 34 which goes adjacent to the Moregram railway station,I would warn others not to use this detour as my car(dzire) was almost about to stuck up the kachha road debris & muck.
Instead 10 km before approaching Moregram on SH7 to take right from Panchgram the road to Palsanda via Nabagram on NH34 can be taken,even google maps was unable to prewarn as it normally does.
This road around 9 kms is also in very bad shape but at least your vehicle wont get stuck up.