[ampere]

Originally Posted by shishir_bn

Any info on the road condition atleast from Palakkad to Thrissur would help

Palakkad-Ottapalam-Shoranur-Trichur instead of NH47. That is much better an option.

[shishir_bn]

Originally Posted by ampere

Palakkad-Ottapalam-Shoranur-Trichur instead of NH47. That is much better an option.

Thanks for the quick reply. Sorry for asking again but how are the roads. Are the roads Driveable? Given the fact that it is raining heavily.

Also one more info. Are the roads broad enough for 2 vehicles pass through without scraping each other?

[denver85]

Originally Posted by ampere

Palakkad-Ottapalam-Shoranur-Trichur instead of NH47. That is much better an option.

I drove through Kuthiran last week. Surprisingly, the major part of Kuthiran section (the hilly terrain) are relaid. Happy to see smooth tarmac after so many years Crossing the Kuthiran was a cake-walk. The approach to Kuthiran is still in the same condition with patched roads which offers a bumpy ride. The work is still going on. The roads after Kuthiran till Vadakkenchery is in same condition(Patched roads). Hope they relaid this section also soon. The roads are relaid in this section:http://maps.google.co.in/maps?saddr=...sz=15&t=m&z=15
Not sure what is the condition after heavy rain. I always prefers Mannuthy-Kuthiran-Vadakkenchery-Kollengode-Pollachi-Palladam-Tirupur(Ring road)-Chengapalli route in the daytime.

[JoeMichael]

Returned today from a Bangalore - Kottayam round trip. Onwards journey was through Theni - Kumali - Ponkunnam- Pala route , It was an awesome drive - good roads through out . It was a bit too foggy after Kumali , but manageable. Return was through Thrissur - Palakkad - Salem route. Mannuthy to Kuthiran is manageable , there are two huge craters one just after Mannuthy and one before Vadakkancherry.

[NPV]

Originally Posted by shishir_bn

The route will be B'lore-Salem-Coimbatore-Palakkad-Thrissur.

I know the roads upto Salem is superb. I want the info from Salem to Thrissur.

Given that Coimbatore (Madukkarai) to Walayar also is in bad condition (see above posts), I would suggest turning off NH47 at Perundurai and going via Pollachi. So Perundurai-Kangeyam-Palladam-Pollachi-Gopalapuram-Palakkad and then taking the route Ampere has suggested:

Originally Posted by ampere

Palakkad-Ottapalam-Shoranur-Trichur instead of NH47. That is much better an option.

Alternatively, one can take Pollachi-Kollengode-Alathur-Pazhayannur-Chelakkara-Trichur.

[ontheroad]

Originally Posted by shishir_bn

Thanks for the quick reply. Sorry for asking again but how are the roads. Are the roads Driveable? Given the fact that it is raining heavily.

Also one more info. Are the roads broad enough for 2 vehicles pass through without scraping each other?

Hi, You dont need any worries regarding Plgt-Ottapalam-Kulapully-Tcr SH. They are in excellent condition. But watchout for that rashly driven private buses.

[silversteed]

Originally Posted by shishir_bn

Also one more info. Are the roads broad enough for 2 vehicles pass through without scraping each other?

Guru Shishir ji,

The Palakkad-Ottapalam-Shornur-Wadakkanchery road looks like this:


The pic is 2 years old (and you would've seen the same pic elsewhere ), but the surface is still excellent, and has reflectors and signages

Watch out for the speed radars after some of the inviting stretches, especially at Lakkidi

[Geo_Ipe]

HELP NEEDED!

My wife needs to travel from Alleppey to Changanasseri on Thursday/Friday. I hear the AC road is more or less under water. The route which goes Haripad - Podiyadi - Thiruvalla - Changanesseri is not fit to travel by car either, I hear, due to water logging.

Could anyone comment on how motorable by car the above routes are?

If both are not travel-able by car, which alternate route do I have? The car will be a Jazz, with chauffer.

Thanks!

[kala]

Originally Posted by JoeMichael

Returned today from a Bangalore - Kottayam round trip. Onwards journey was through Theni - Kumali - Ponkunnam- Pala route , It was an awesome drive - good roads through out . It was a bit too foggy after Kumali , but manageable.

Did you go via Pala because you had some work there ?

Pala seems quite a bit out of the way when travelling from Ponkunnam to Kottayam, that's why the question. (And the road condition on the direct route was perfectly fine when I travelled that way about a month ago)

[ontheroad]

Pathetic condition of NH47 between Mannuthy and Kuthiran!!! Photo taken from todays Malayala Manorama.

[binand]

Originally Posted by ontheroad

Pathetic condition of NH47 between Mannuthy and Kuthiran!!! Photo taken from todays Malayala Manorama.

Oh boy oh boy... and I was planning to drive my Civic to Aluva. I wouldn't have had a car to return had I done so :-) Which car is that - Optra?

I looked up the article on Malayala Manorama's e-paper. The article just reports the ground situation, plus claims that NHAI has written to GoK that repairing this stretch of NH47 is a "waste of money". If the latter is the case, I want to see NHAI HQ shifted to Kuthiran and staff/executive quarters to Mannuthi.

The title says "(the people responsible for this) should be beaten with an ulakka" - which is a type of pestle found in Kerala, usually 6+ feet long a few kgs in weight, used to manually crush rice/wheat to powder. A pic is on Wikimedia:

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Ulakka.JPG

[ontheroad]

I think the people responsible for this mess is really GoK. Infact NHAI even started work for 6 laning of this stretch years before, but couldnt proceed as state govt didn't acquire and transfer land to them on time. I also have the opinion that repairing the stretch is waste of money as the load on the 2lane highway is too high so that it gets damaged due to stress. Read somewhere that present PCU on this stretch demands 8 lane highway! BTW, the car is Fiesta classic.

[deetjohn]

Originally Posted by binand

Oh boy oh boy... and I was planning to drive my Civic to Aluva. I wouldn't have had a car to return had I done so :-) Which car is that - Optra?

That's a Fiesta.

The roads in Ernakulam town are disintegrating as each day passes. Big potholes with sharp edges, and they are invisible due to water logging.

The expansion joints on the bridges are very punishing for the car and the spine. And to make it worse, the water authority has dug up the good roads for laying pipe just before monsoon and haven't bothered to re-tar it. They have just covered it with mud and its crazy out there.

No wonder, people turn to bad-roaders like the Duster.

[JoeMichael]

Originally Posted by kala

Did you go via Pala because you had some work there ?

Pala seems quite a bit out of the way when travelling from Ponkunnam to Kottayam, that's why the question. (And the road condition on the direct route was perfectly fine when I travelled that way about a month ago)

Yes , I had to drop a friend at Pala , anyways I was travelling to Ettumanoor - so its not a big detour as such.

[binand]

Originally Posted by deetjohn

That's a Fiesta.

That was what I thought too initially - but the e-paper has a few more photos, one of which has a front shot of the same car (at least, same colour and a TN registration number) with the Chevrolet logo visible. Hence the confusion.