[animosity1123]

I wish to travel from Bangalore to Rourkela (Odisha) in my car (ecosport) starting from 5th Sep. The planned route is Bangalore-Hyderabad-Nagpur-Bhillai-Jharsuguda-Rourkela.
The travel plan is to start early morning (around 3am) on 5th Sep from Bangalore, stretch it till Nagpur (probably will reach by 11pm), park in a 24x7 petrol pump and sleep.
Next day (6th Sep) start at 5am from Nagpur and reach Rourkela by 11pm.

Is this route advisable to take, considering my travel timings? Is there any weekend/night curfew that might hamper plans? What is the general condition of NH7 and the Mumbai-Kolkata highway from Nagpur?

I have done the Bangalore-Rajamundry-Vishakapatnam-Brahmapur-Rourkela route in 2018 in my bike (Bajaj Avenger) in 2 days. But, I found the later half of the route from Brahmapur to Rourkela too tedious, with roads ridden with pot holes. The 2nd day from Rajamundry to Rourkela (900+Kms) was covered with 22 hrs of non-stop riding, with the last leg of Brahmapur to Rourkela (501Kms) taking almost 12 hrs.

Hence, wanted to try out the Nagpur route, since it sounds relatively easier on paper.

Any suggestions are welcome!

[D'Ro@dSt@r]

I can vouch for the roads in between Nagpur- Raipur-Sambalpur-Jharsugda-Rourkela on which my brothers do take frequent trips before this entire virus episode happened. I drove from Sambalpur-Raipur in March and it was absolutely wonderful drive. Pls see if u can get more details about the road conditions in between Bangalore n Nagpur.
In case you are travelling with family/kids, I would suggest look for a small hotel on the highways in which you can spend a night to take some rest and then drive on. You would need that rest to continue your onward journey.
Ofcourse there is always a fear of infection, but you can try with your own linens and carry a sanitizing spray.
Hope it helps you and wishing you a safe journey.
Take care!!

[animosity1123]

Thanks for the reply. Good to know that the Nagpur to Rourkela road is good. Afaik, the Bangalore to Nagpur road is driveable at most places. This was the most important reason of choosing this route over the other. However, given that I am traveling solo and there is an evolving flood situation in Nagpur, will keep the trip on hold for a few weeks.

[ampere]

Originally Posted by animosity1123

Thanks for the reply. Good to know that the Nagpur to Rourkela road is good. Afaik, the Bangalore to Nagpur road is driveable at most places. This was the most important reason of choosing this route over the other. However, given that I am traveling solo and there is an evolving flood situation in Nagpur, will keep the trip on hold for a few weeks.

Bangalore-Nagpur is routinely done by many who visit wild life parks. So I guess you have the who distance covered.

[animosity1123]

I finally did the Bangalore to Rourkela (Odisha) drive and back, covering 1850 kms across 6 states - Karnataka, Telangana, AP, maharastra, chattisgarh and Odisha.

Left Bangalore on 11 Sep, 4pm and reached Rourkela on 13 Sep, 5am, stopping for a 7 hr sleep in a hotel near Nagpur.

Return was a bit crazy and not recommended. Left Rourkela on 24 Sep 4pm and drove straight till Bangalore for 1850 kms, reaching on 25 Sep 9pm. Stopped for two 20min naps near petrol pumps though. Though the initial plan was to do a pit stop at a hotel near nagour, surprisingly, I wasn't exhausted and kept shifting the plan to halt from Nagpur to places near hyderabad and finally decided to drive all the way till Bangalore in one go. Even after reaching Bangalore, surprisingly i had enough energy left to browse Netflix before sleeping and went to nearby trip (350kms round trip) the very next day.

Was a fun and crazy 3 weeks. Thanks bhpians for all the info regarding roads etc. Happy to return the favour if anyone has any query

[Jack Sparrow]

Hi All,
A friend of mine wants to do the below route to bring back his niece from NIT Rourkela.

Chennai - Hyderabad - Nagpor - Bhilai - Jharsaguda - Rourkela.

How are the route conditions now? is it safe and what sort of entry passes are to be procured?

We will have just go and pick the kid from the hostel and come back to Chennai. That's the itinerary. Let us know.

We also have the flight tickets boked, and depending on flight status, will decide if it has to be through air or by road!!

Thanks in Advance.

[ashis89]

Originally Posted by Jack Sparrow

Hi All,
A friend of mine wants to do the below route to bring back his niece from NIT Rourkela.

Chennai - Hyderabad - Nagpor - Bhilai - Jharsaguda - Rourkela.

How are the route conditions now? is it safe and what sort of entry passes are to be procured?

We will have just go and pick the kid from the hostel and come back to Chennai. That's the itinerary. Let us know.

We also have the flight tickets boked, and depending on flight status, will decide if it has to be through air or by road!!

Thanks in Advance.

Hyderabad to Rourkela road condition is very good (as of end Feb 2021) except for a small stretch between Nagpur and Raipur.

Between Ongole and Nalgonda, there were patches of bad roads in between though nothing serious.

Given the current situation, I would suggest taking the flight. The nearest airport, Jharsuguda is about 120 kms from Rourkela and would be the best option to catch a flight home.

[D'Ro@dSt@r]

Originally Posted by ashis89

Given the current situation, I would suggest taking the flight. The nearest airport, Jharsuguda is about 120 kms from Rourkela and would be the best option to catch a flight home.

Yes, i will also suggest taking a flight till Jharsuguda and you have direct flights To/From Chennai from spicejet.

Attaching a snapshot of the flight schedules for your reference.

Take care and travel safe..!!!

[sreenivass]

True. I was in a similar situation 20 days ago. My son had to return. I decided to bring him back by train to avoid local exposure, taxis, buses, etc.. Rourkela to Yeswantapur train. It is not short in time though.

Since he had to also vacate the hostel room, luggage was an additional burden. I considered a drive down to bring him back, train reservation worked out finally. Tatkal/ Premium tatkal sometimes exceed flight costs. We'd better off by train if we have much luggage.

A Bhubaneswar friend suggested me a route after Bhubaneswar/ Cuttack after driving via Vizag to Rourkela.

[ashis89]

Originally Posted by sreenivass

A Bhubaneswar friend suggested me a route after Bhubaneswar/ Cuttack after driving via Vizag to Rourkela.

To add, if you're traveling to/from Rourkela/Sambalpur/Bargarh/Balangir, the route via Bhubaneswar is much longer and the road is not in the best shape. The route suggested earlier, via Hyderabad-Nagpur-Raipur-Sambalpur-Rourkela is the preferred one. Road is very good and distance is less. This is the update for both the routes as of end Feb 2021.