[Sutripta]

Originally Posted by indrasis_gun

Sir, I will be travelling Coochbehar-Kolkata tomorrow. So what will be the best route to follow? I am waiting for your response.

So which route did you use, and how was it?

Sutripta

[gmhossain]

We drove to Malda today along NH-12 (old NH-34) via Krishnanagar. The widening work has now resumed for Barajaguli - Krishnanagar section of NH-12. In this section, I was expecting the worst surface but was pleasantly surprised. The potholes have been patched up. It's bit rough but quite manageable in a hatchback.

The toll operation has now began for Krishnanagar - Baharampur section. However, I didn't see any activity to complete the unfinished work around Debagram, Beldanga and Bhabta.

Except for the Baharampur Bypass, the Baharampur - Farakka section of NH-12 is now fully 4-laned. At Ballalpur, both east and west side ROBs are now operational. Although, old bridge at Ahiron was closed for renovation. Most of the potholes in this section have been patched up recently. Although, the surface was rough at few stretches.

We started from Kalyani More at around 5:45 am and exited NH-12 at Kaliachak at around 11:50 am to cover the distance of around 250 odd km. In this drive, we had 3 bio/fuel/photo breaks totaling around 40 minutes. We didn't face any closed level crossing, thanks to the restricted train movements!

Beautiful Autumn drive (along Krishnanagar - Baharampur section of NH-12)

Originally Posted by Sutripta

Anyone here who has recently used NH31 all the way to Barhi?

Not sure about NH-31 but the stretch of NH-19 (old NH-2) between Barakar and Barhi was in total mess just before the lockdown due to the ongoing 6-laning work.

[Sutripta]

Originally Posted by gmhossain

Not sure about NH-31 but the stretch of NH-19 (old NH-2) between Barakar and Barhi was in total mess just before the lockdown due to the ongoing 6-laning work.

Actually the question was to find out the feasibility of using the Begusarai Ganga crossing especially since there was a post about crossing the Ganga at Patna.

Sutripta

[indrasis_gun]

Originally Posted by Sutripta

So which route did you use, and how was it?

Sutripta

I have used the route mentioned below:

Kolkata-Burdwan-Bolpur-Sainthia-Kuli-Kandi-Baharampur-Morgram-Malda-Dalkhola-Siliguri.

The Burdwan to Baharampur stretch by the above mentioned route was absolutely blissful to drive barring a 2 km bad stretch between Sainthia to Kuli even in the evening of Mahashtami. I have crossed Burdwan at 5 pm and reached Baharampur at 8.30 pm. It was a much less stressful drive compared to the drive through Nutanhat Futisanko Kuli.

Thanks Sir for this useful suggestion

[sayakc]

Hi Indrasis,

I am travelling to Cooch Behar tomorrow.
How long did you take to reach Siliguri from Kolkata following the below route? Duration + the timing of your journey will be greatly appreciated.

Regards,
Sayak

Originally Posted by indrasis_gun

I have used the route mentioned below:

Kolkata-Burdwan-Bolpur-Sainthia-Kuli-Kandi-Baharampur-Morgram-Malda-Dalkhola-Siliguri.

The Burdwan to Baharampur stretch by the above mentioned route was absolutely blissful to drive barring a 2 km bad stretch between Sainthia to Kuli even in the evening of Mahashtami. I have crossed Burdwan at 5 pm and reached Baharampur at 8.30 pm. It was a much less stressful drive compared to the drive through Nutanhat Futisanko Kuli.

Thanks Sir for this useful suggestion

[indrasis_gun]

Originally Posted by sayakc

Hi Indrasis,

I am travelling to Cooch Behar tomorrow.
How long did you take to reach Siliguri from Kolkata following the below route? Duration + the timing of your journey will be greatly appreciated.

Regards,
Sayak

Below are my time stamps:
Dankuni Toll Plaza: 3.45 pm
Burdwan: 5 pm
Sainthia: 7.20 pm
Baharampur: 8.30 pm
Malda Bypass: 11.30 pm (took a 20 minutes break in between)
Gazole: 12.10 pm
*Slept in the car for 4 hours 30 minutes
Started from Gazole: 5 am
Dalkhola: 7.15 am
Islampur: 8.30 am (took a 30 minutes break)
Ghoshpukur: 9.30 am
**From Ghoshpukur went via Bagdogra, Medical More, Medical College, Noukaghat More, Fulbari, Belacoba, Jalpaiguri, Mainaguri Bypass, Mathabhanga, Coochbehar
***Alternatively you can proceed via Sevoke, Malbazar, Chalsa, Falakata, Coochbehar. This road is in absolutely top condition and will take same time as the above mentioned route if not less.
Coochbehar: 12.45 pm.

[sayakc]

Thanks Indrasis!
Travel time of 18 hrs to Cooch Behar looks slightly over par. However that may be due to the longer route which you had taken.

Was the (bad) road condition the reason you didnt avail:
A. Burdwan-Kuli-Moregram
B. Botolbari-Dhantola ?

OT: Are you based/working out of Cooch Behar? Wanted to understand the connection

Best Regards,
Sayak

Originally Posted by indrasis_gun

Below are my time stamps:
Dankuni Toll Plaza: 3.45 pm
Burdwan: 5 pm
Sainthia: 7.20 pm
Baharampur: 8.30 pm
Malda Bypass: 11.30 pm (took a 20 minutes break in between)
Gazole: 12.10 pm

[indrasis_gun]

Originally Posted by sayakc

Thanks Indrasis!
Travel time of 18 hrs to Cooch Behar looks slightly over par. However that may be due to the longer route which you had taken.

Was the (bad) road condition the reason you didnt avail:
A. Burdwan-Kuli-Moregram
B. Botolbari-Dhantola ?

Best Regards,
Sayak

Yes I did not take the above roads due to bad road condition.
For the longer time part, It was a travel due to an urgent official work. I did the trip Coochbehar-Kolkata-Coochbehar over 3 days with two night halts in the car. So in the return leg I was a bit tired and done it slowly. Also the ground clearance of my Swift 3rd generation is not so great. So I was extra cautious of underbelly hits. You can definitely do it faster.

O. T. We had carried portable stove and made simple rice with boiled veg for lunch due to fear of COVID-19.

My hometown is Coochbehar. Our home is right in front of the Rash Mela Math(ground).

[sayakc]

I did a Kolkata - Cooch Behar run on 30-Oct-20. Started from Kolkata at 4.15 AM in the morning and reached Cooch Behar at 8 PM dot. Door to door.
After having gone through the feedback of Indrasis and Sutripta-da I had thought of taking alternate routes but then felt why not try the known enemy? Here is the road conditions details where I have given a comparison with my run during December 2019 during our Arunachal trip.

Summary:
I am not sure whether there has been patch work done in the past few days, but definitely its not as bad a highlighted by many of you! I am not sure about others, but I am definitely going to avail the route (Kolkata -Burdwan - SH7 Moregram - Raiganj - Botolbari - Dhantola - Islampur) while returning.

Trip Duration:
For anyone if you are planning for Siliguri - I reached Ghoshpukur at 4 PM. So, I guess it will be max 30 mins more to reach Siliguri. Hence, projecting a time of 12 hrs 15 mins. For the record, my own travel durations on the Kolkata - Siliguri route from 2019: Oct 2019 in 10.5 hours and 11.5 hours (faced huge jam in Raiganj) in Dec 2019. So, definitely travel time has gone up by 1-2 hours.

Road Condition By Section

• Kolkata - Futisanko: Excellent/Good. Road condition unchanged.
• Futisanko - Kuli: Bad. Road condition has deteriorated badly. Sudden craters. Road repair work in progress in some places
• Kuli - Kaliachak: Good/Average. Faced traffic jam between Kaliachak to Sujapur. Reason:4 laning work in full swing. 10 kms around Sujapur has deteriorated.
• Sujapur - Botolbari: Good/Average. Road condition unchanged.
• Botolbari - Dhantola: Bad. Initial 40 kms has deteriorated. Remaining 23 kms is good.
• Dhantola - Islampur: Sudden craters. Road condition deteriorated.
• Islampur - Ghoshpukur: Good. Road condition unchanged.

Highlights:
The view of Mt. K over the tea gardens of Islampur is a treat to city sore eyes

Cheers,
Sayak

Originally Posted by Sutripta

Just did a CCU - Jalpaiguri - CCU run.
Roads are shambles/ nonexistent in places, and one still pay tolls.

We will meet once Indrasis! My home is in Hazrapara.

Originally Posted by indrasis_gun

I am waiting for your response.

I am sure you dont mean the roads of 2011-2013 period

Originally Posted by ABHI_1512

I have been travelling on NH 34 since long but I don’t remember the surface to be so dreadful ever.

haisaikat: I travelled in my Swift , with the Innova you will have it easy. I had something to my advantage though - I was travelling alone and also had packed home food. So, there are some +ves and -ves here and there. If you planning to take the Bihar route, do keep in mind the extra 100 kms and Bihar elections.

Originally Posted by haisaikat

Thanks for this update, is the Bihar - Jharkhand route fine for night time drives with family? Is the checking more during night times? My travel is also upcoming in another week hence wanted to get a concurrence on this.

[indrasis_gun]

Originally Posted by sayakc

Summary:
I am not sure whether there has been patch work done in the past few days, but definitely its not as bad a highlighted by many of you! I am not sure about others, but I am definitely going to avail the route (Kolkata -Burdwan - SH7 Moregram - Raiganj - Botolbari - Dhantola - Islampur) while returning.
Cheers,
Sayak

We will meet once Indrasis! My home is in Hazrapara.

I have also observed that the road condition has improved in my last trip compared to my previous trips I have taken in July and August. This time the road had better surface compared to that time. Also those trips were during heavy rain. This time there was no rain. But I have refrained from mentioning so.

O. T. We will definitely meet.

[ABHI_1512]

Originally Posted by sayakc

I am sure you dont mean the roads of 2011-2013 period

Wow, I travelled this route through SH7 and NH34 only a fortnight back and vowed never to take this route for the next six months or before the repairs. Going through your summary, it seems I took some another route altogether !!

Even the road outside the Burdwan town was in shambles along with those huge craters for almost 15 kilometres before Kuli. It seems there has been substantial repairs done to SH7 along with Moregram. Sujapur was a nightmare for me and almost reminded me of the glory days of Farakka and Kaliachak.

By the way, the viewing of Mt K from Islampur is all over the net. I am sure you also got one, thanks for the route update, there is still hope for a weekend in the hills

[gmhossain]

Originally Posted by sayakc

I did a Kolkata - Cooch Behar run on 30-Oct-20. Started from Kolkata at 4.15 AM in the morning and reached Cooch Behar at 8 PM dot. Door to door. .... Faced traffic jam between Kaliachak to Sujapur. Reason:4 laning work in full swing.

Thanks Sayak for the nice update. Looks like, you had an impressive Kolkata - Siliguri drive!

The last bit of information about the Kaliachak - Sujapur stretch is very heartening. Within a month of formally taking over the ownership of Farakka - Raiganj section, the Cube Highways has mobilized their resources (read cash) very well. Given the land fillings were already done, in the next 6 months, we can expect the remaining road work to be completed in this section.

On Oct 29, we retraced back our drive from Malda along NH-12 via Krishnanagar. Given the resource mobilization by the new contractor for the Krishnanagar - Bara Jaguli section, I anticipate in next 6 months NH-12 route will be back in contention vis-a-vis SH-7. The full NH-12 route already has more 4-laned road section between Kolkata airport and Morgram, compared to SH-7 route to Morgram. With the resumption of the widening work, breakdown of a single truck would no longer be able to halt the full traffic, as the situation now in this section.

Cheers,

[esaidrive8656]

Did Kolkata Kalimpong on 30th Oct 2020.
Started in the evening around 6 .
Around 20kms of SH7 was in bad condition. Roads after Farakka were abysmal right uptill Islampur. Frankly I wouldn't even call them roads.
Had planned to do it in one stretch like the previous year, however couldn't manage it this time. The road conditions are bad, its exhausting. Would not even think of traveling by the Burdwan SH7 NH34 route in the near future. Planning to go via the Bhagalpur Dumka route for the return leg.
Can someone please update about the road conditions presently in the Bhagalpur Dumka sector.

[rahul4640]

Originally Posted by esaidrive8656

Did Kolkata Kalimpong on 30th Oct 2020.
Around 20kms of SH7 was in bad condition. Roads after Farakka were abysmal right uptill Islampur. Frankly I wouldn't even call them roads. The road conditions are bad, its exhausting. Planning to go via the Bhagalpur Dumka route for the return leg.

In case you have returned back via Dumka, please let me know. I am planning to leave Kolkata for Siliguri in a day or two and may like to take the Dumka route. I have options to stay at Dumka in a friend's house, so may even like to stop overnight there and leave for Bhagalpur early in the morning.

[ABHI_1512]

Bhagalpur route is the one I took while returning from Siliguri, a fortnight back. The route despite of being long, is still better than our Bengal route, at least surface wise. The bridge collapse near Dumka can be avoided by either taking the Jama-Palajori-Jamtara route or taking a village road detour of around seven kilometres to connect back to Dumka- Hansdiha- Bhagalpur bypass. The road surface is bad for some kilometres before Bhagalpur bypass but more or less, can be negotiated easily. Rest of the route is brilliant through Purnea- Araria- Naxalbari- Siliguri. There are two broken bridges after Araria and should ideally be crossed during morning or evening to avoid peak time traffic.