Was able to evaluate the SH7 route today, which is being touted as an alternate to following the Dumka, Bhagalpur, Purnea route - the one that has been discussed and dealt with in great detail in this thread.
http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/route-...ding-nh34.html
To start with the whole route looked like this on Googlemaps
Here is the URL to the Map
https://goo.gl/maps/L9d4Q
The end to end distance as indicated by Gmaps was 562 kms
Whereas actual Odometer reading read 589.8kms (minus a 5km back and forth extra at Umerpur)
The drive time taken was (excluding stops) - 13 hour 8mins
Main points of interest will be
1> the SH7 portion between Burdwan and Moregram and
2> section between Botolbari and Islampur (Byepassing the infamous Dalkhola crossing jam, and also shortening the distance)
Coming to the first part, the SH7 Portion
This is how it looks like on Google
Url
https://goo.gl/maps/yrMeV
I will try my best to provide visuals of the important turns as I did on the Dumka-Bhagalpur thread
The entrance to this route is roughly 15kms from the Palsit toll, the first entry point (coming from Kolkata) into Burdwan town
Your drive on that road for 5.6 kms through the town, roads look like this
At the end of 5.6 km, one encounters a traffic light that looks like this, one needs to take a right fork here
The above crossing seen upclose, one needs to drive up the ramp shown by the arrow (bike going up)
soon there after, another right onto this bridge
right after the bridge take the left as indicated, this becomes the Burdwan-Katwa road
Take this road for about 13.8 kms, the surface is good, till one reaches this fork, where the road to Katwa (on right) has to be exited for the road on left (there on the fun starts, more on that later), The road on left goes through small settlements called Muratipur, Natunhat (Mangalkot)
About 20kms from the above fork, there is another and its quite easy to take the road straight, whereas actually SH7 is the road on right (Easy to make a mistake here). This is also the first time this road is indicated as SH7.
About 2 kms from the above right turn is this bridge
Right after this bridge one has to take road on right.
22kms from after the fork (at the end of the bridge) is Futisanko, one has to keep on straight
The board in the picture above seen vaguely should be a guide, seen below, the same board.
The road surface becomes good for the next 25 kms or so
Driving straight for around 67.5kms from Futishanko, SH7 merges into NH60 (Panagarh-Moregram Highway), one needs to take a right
(from the opposite end) The same approach to SH7, but from Moregram side looks like this
2.5 kms on the Panagarh Moregram Highway, one will reach the Moregram circle
So distance from Entry to Burdwan to Moregram is 136kms. Time taken (No stops) 3hours 26mins. Holdups none. Halts None. Average speed 39.64KMPH on a SUV
So what is the Cause behind the abysmal average speed?
Right after leaving the Burdwan-Katwa road (as indicated somewhere above) these things happen in random order over multiple instances!!
The roadsurface (AND the Duck family as well)
The congestion on settlements
Slow moving carts
Picture like this is an exception!!
The 4-lane from Moregram to Farakka was a breeze, we thought we will make good time hence (was probably expecting a one hour travel time between Farakka and Malda). But the actuals look grossly different. The time it took from the moment we got off the Farakka Barrage (after an agonising endless drive on the barrage) was 2hours and 2 minutes to reach the start of 4 laning on the otherside of Malda (Merely 45kms apart). That too after being the most successful negotiator on the embankments even with respect to the local Tata Iris drivers.
And today seemed to have been a good day without any traffic holdups/blockades. Wonder what would happen on a bad day.
Then from start of 4laning after Malda till Raiganj, was no great shakes either, 1hr 18 mins for what was only a 66km stretch. The last 22kms from Itahar being pretty rough.
Verdict : I will take the Dumka Bhagalpur route on the way back (Its about 100km longer but takes shorter time and is far less stressful on man and machine).
Depending on any part of NH34 is ruled out for me in the near future.
I know, I did not share the Botolbari-Dhantola detail as indicated before, but I doubt with the information posted above, anyone will be interested in it. But it did provide a lucrative and timesaving alternative to going through Dalkhola, but with the Dumka-Bhagalpur route, one does not need to bother about it!
Still if anyone is interested, let me know, I can later go ahead and post that as well.