[Parryontheprowl]

Hello everyone,

I have recently been to Chhattisgarh from Kolkata and have enumerated the route and road conditions in one of my previous posts in a different forum. Special Post Monsoon warning for NH-6 : Avoid the Kharagpur - Baharagora - Jamsola stretch at all costs; the road is horrendous. Even the truckers avoid it.

Take the Kolkata - Kharagpur - Jaleswar - Amarda Road - Baripada - Bangriposi route and from then on, the NH-6 is quite good upto Sambalpur. Since I did not take the NH-6 beyond Jamankira, I will not be able to say much but I was warned by relatives about the road beyond Sambalpur. My own observation about roads in Chhattisgarh : Very Bad.

For Kolkata to Raipur, night halts can be taken either at Keonjhar (420 Kms. from Koikata via Amarda Road), Deogarh (550 Kms. from Kolkata via Amarda Road) or Sambalpur (640 Kms. from Kolkata via Amarda Road) depending on your progress. All three places have decent hotels right on the highway.

In my case, I had started from Kolkata at 5:20 am and had comfortable reached Keonjhar at 1:15 pm for a relaxed lunch at Raj Restaurant, which is just short of Kenjhar Town after the railway fly-over on the left hand side. The food is OK. Thereafter, I proceeded to Deogarh where I stayed the night with relatives. However, Sambalpur is doable in the same day.

Brace yourself for a hard second day beyond Sambalpur.

Happy driving!

[redracham]

Avoid the Kharagpur - Baharagora - Jamsola stretch at all costs; the road is horrendous. Even the truckers avoid it.

Any further updates on the Baharagora - Jamsola stretch? Planning a drive from Kolkata to Raipur. Please advice if I need to avoid any stretches like the one above.

[Parryontheprowl]

Dear redracham,

As mentioned in my earlier post, AVOID the Baharagora - Jamsola stretch at all costs. I had taken that route on 04 October 2013 and had encountered extremely bad roads right from Jamsola to Kharagpur (70 Kms). Take the Kharagpur - Amarda Road - Baripada - Bangriposi route. At least you will be able to avoid 90% of the bad stretch. Again, 10 Kms each side of Bisoi is also bad but nothing compared to Baharagora - Jamsola stretch.

Avoid driving at night on the entire route. It is not safe. The aftermath of Cyclone Phailin might come into play in and around Sambalpur and Chattisgarh border in the way of bad roads due to excessive rains during the last couple of weeks. Plan accordingly.

My suggestion would be to start early from Kolkata and carry on upto Sambalpur/Deogarh/Keonjhar (Plan A/B/C) depending on your progress and halt for the night. In Orissa, roads are quite good and you should be able to make good progress. Since roads in Chhattisgarh are generally bad, start early the next day so that you can make it to Raipur by noon/afternoon.

All the best. Do keep us posted about your trip.

[redracham]

Thanks Parryontheprowl - I am starting early tomorrow (05 Nov). Will provide an update as soon as I can.

[Parryontheprowl]

Dear Redracham,

Good to know that you are finally making this journey. All the very best to you. Please remember to take the Kharagpur - Amarda Road - Baripada - Bangriposi route. Also, if you find a traffic jam near the WB - Odisha border, you can take a detour into Jaleshwar town and carry on parallel to the GQ till the road meets the GQ just before the Subarnarekha Bridge. The Amarda Road turning is not very far from the bridge.

Take care and drive safely!!! Looking forward to hear from you.

[redracham]

Parryontheprowl - Came back from Raipur, CH yesterday. Took your advice and it paid off. Thanks for that. While coming back took a different route.

The route I took was: Kolkata-Kharagpur-Amarda Rd-Baripada-Bangriposi-Bisoi-Sambalpur-Saraipalli-Raipur-Bilaspur-Ambikapur-Ranchi-Hazaribagh-Barhi-Dhanbad-Durgapur-Kolkata.

The return leg was better in terms of road condition, but longer in terms of distance. NH6 between Saraipalli and Raipur is in a mess, should be avoided. Long stretches between Bisoi and Sambalpur are also broken. However the Safari Storme held on well on those roads.

[Parryontheprowl]

Dear redracham,

Congratulations on completing your trip successfully! I guess you have added value to this thread by sharing your return route. I am sure it must have been fun in your Safari Storme. I can visualize the Storme gliding over some potholed roads and just flying on good ones.

How is the Ranchi-Barhi route? I believe they have constructed a four lane highway now. Would be going to Ranchi in December/January and am looking for a good route.

Thanks and drive safely!!!

[redracham]

Hi Parryontheprowl -

You are right, the Storme was pure fun to drive on both conditions!

The four lane project is not complete yet. It is between Ranchi and Hazaribagh. Barring a few short stretches of bad roads (potholes mainly) the entire stretch is excellent. Where the road is single lane, they are wide. The Barhi-Ranchi stretch is scenic as well. Go for it.

I also checked the Ranchi-Bokaro-Dhanbad route with a friend, which is shorter, but he suggested I take the Ranchi-Barhi one.

[Sommos]

Originally Posted by redracham

The route I took was: Kolkata-Kharagpur-Amarda Rd-Baripada-Bangriposi-Bisoi-Sambalpur-Saraipalli-Raipur-Bilaspur-Ambikapur-Ranchi-Hazaribagh-Barhi-Dhanbad-Durgapur-Kolkata.

The return leg was better in terms of road condition, but longer in terms of distance. NH6 between Saraipalli and Raipur is in a mess, should be avoided. Long stretches between Bisoi and Sambalpur are also broken. However the Safari Storme held on well on those roads.

a. Thanks for bringing to notice the return route. Any reasons why you specifically chose this route.

b. There were some alternate routes available like Raipur-Bhatapara-Raigarh-Pathalgaon-Jashpur-Gumla-Ranchi or Raipur-Bilaspur-Janjgir Champa-Pathalgaon-Kunkuri-Jashpur-Gumla-Ranchi. Any reason why you considered going the longer way through Ambikapur by avoiding the above routes.

c. How was the road condition beyond Bilaspur and the traffic.

d. Did you cover Raipur to Ranchi on the same day or you took a halt somewhere in between.

e. The road between Arang and Saraipalli is being converted to four lane. Did you see any activity regarding the same or the things have come to a standstill for the prolonged monsson and then the state election.

[redracham]

Hi Sommos - Let me try to answer your questions.

a. Thanks for bringing to notice the return route. Any reasons why you specifically chose this route.

NH6 was out of question due to its condition which also delayed progress. So had to figure out an alternate route. I initially had Raipur-Bilaspur-Ambikapur-Daltonganj-Gaya-Dhanbad-Kolkata in mind. But a police man in Ambikapur told us to go via Ranchi (which we wanted to avoid in the first place due to factors closer to politics). But they told us that it is OK if we reach before midnight. So we turned towards Ranchi from Ambikapur. Another option was Raipur-Bilaspur-Raigarh-Jharsuguda-Ranchi, but we opted out as truckers in Bilaspur told us that truck drivers are using that route to avoid the broken NH6 between Kharagpur and Jamsola.

b. There were some alternate routes available like Raipur-Bhatapara-Raigarh-Pathalgaon-Jashpur-Gumla-Ranchi or Raipur-Bilaspur-Janjgir Champa-Pathalgaon-Kunkuri-Jashpur-Gumla-Ranchi. Any reason why you considered going the longer way through Ambikapur by avoiding the above routes.

That would have been the ideal route if we had Ranchi in mind when we started that morning. But since we had Gaya in mind, we went up to Ambikapur.

c. How was the road condition beyond Bilaspur and the traffic.

The road was excellent all the way to Ranchi and till Barhi, barring few short stretches which were broken and have developed potholes. But nothing out of the ordinary. Traffic was sparse beyond Korba. Till Korba we met series of heavy trucks carrying coal and other mining outputs. No traffic jams whatsoever. Or maybe we were lucky that day.

d. Did you cover Raipur to Ranchi on the same day or you took a halt somewhere in between

Yes, we reached Ranchi on the same day. We started at 9 am and reached the outskirts at around 12.30 am. We did not enter Ranchi but stopped over at a dhaba just before the Ranchi ring road.

e. The road between Arang and Saraipalli is being converted to four lane. Did you see any activity regarding the same or the things have come to a standstill for the prolonged monsoon and then the state election.

In the entire stretch between Saraipalli and Arang, there were only 2 places where there was some activity going on. I think it was mostly because of the reasons you stated, more specifically the second one.

Hope the information helps.

[A.G.The Rambler]

Originally Posted by redracham

Any further updates on the Baharagora - Jamsola stretch? Planning a drive from Kolkata to Raipur. Please advice if I need to avoid any stretches like the one above.

Originally Posted by redracham

Thanks Parryontheprowl - I am starting early tomorrow (05 Nov). Will provide an update as soon as I can.

Originally Posted by Parryontheprowl

Dear Redracham,

Good to know that you are finally making this journey. All the very best to you. Please remember to take the Kharagpur - Amarda Road - Baripada - Bangriposi route. Also, if you find a traffic jam near the WB - Odisha border, you can take a detour into Jaleshwar town and carry on parallel to the GQ till the road meets the GQ just before the Subarnarekha Bridge. The Amarda Road turning is not very far from the bridge.

Take care and drive safely!!! Looking forward to hear from you.

Another route to bypass the horror of NH 6 en-route Raipur from Kolkata is taking the Kolkata - KGP - Balasore - Chandikhole - Choudwar- Angul - Redhakhol - Sambalpur - <the normal route thereon till Raipur>. This route is much much better and winding through the jungles and a treat to drive. Recently some broken patches have come up between Choudwar till Dhenkhanal but overall a great alternative. I have driven through this route few times and it is much much better than the Keonjhar route.

I did the Kolkata - Raipur stretch non stop in Dec 2011 in around 17 hours approx through this route.

[Sutripta]

Originally Posted by A.G.The Rambler

Another route to bypass the horror of NH 6 en-route Raipur from Kolkata is taking the Kolkata - KGP - Balasore - Chandikhole - Choudwar- Angul - Redhakhol - Sambalpur - <the normal route thereon till Raipur>.

For Calcutta - Sambalpur, this was my route of choice for a long time.
And if I was footloose and fancy free (the good old days) I would reach Baripada either from Balasore (in those days, KGP - Balasore was quite a chore) or from Gopiballabhpur, cut through Simlipal (if one got permission) or drive round its perimeter (via Bangriposi - Bisoi) and continue. Used to love the two small ghat sections - the one at Bisoi, and the one between Keonjhar and Pal Lahara.

There was also a delightful road from Banarpal to Kaniha - Samal - skirt Rengali - Pal Lahara. (Guess NTPC used to armtwist the State Govt. into maintaining this road.)

Talcher - Jajpur Road - Panikoili used to be horrible.

Wonder what is the state of all these roads now.

Regards
Sutripta

PS - I had a very close friend whose home town was Baripada.

[rahul4640]

Originally Posted by Sutripta

Used to love the two small ghat sections - the one at Bisoi, and the one between Keonjhar and Pal Lahara.

The one between Keonjhar and Pal Lahara is called Kanjipani ghat. Two beautiful waterfalls are located in these areas, being nemed San Ghagra and Bara Ghagra. Out of them Bara Ghagra is right on the main road (NH-6) and I suggest that anyone going through this stretch please stop there and enjoy the beauty. It also has a park and a lake with boating facilities. The sign board is visible right from the road and this is is a very popular picnic place for the people of these localities, specially at winter.

Originally Posted by Sutripta

There was also a delightful road from Banarpal to Kaniha - Samal - skirt Rengali - Pal Lahara. (Guess NTPC used to armtwist the State Govt. into maintaining this road.)

Sutriptada, please also mention that with a slight detour, you may also deviate from the Talcher-Pal Lahara road by taking the road going past Kaniha NTPC township to reach Rengali dam. There is a road right on the barrage, which will enable you to return to the main road at a village called Khamar, from where Pal Lahara is possibly ten KMs away. I am talking about this route. The roads and the views are amazingly beautiful. And the authorities allow personal vehicles on the barrage, though they charge about ten rupees (IIRC) per car as toll.
Regards,
Rahul

[Sutripta]

Originally Posted by rahul4640

Sutriptada, please also mention that with a slight detour, you may also deviate from the Talcher-Pal Lahara road by taking the road going past Kaniha NTPC township to reach Rengali dam. There is a road right on the barrage, which will enable you to return to the main road at a village called Khamar, from where Pal Lahara is possibly ten KMs away.

From Kaniha to the Banarpal - Pal Lahara road, there is ne which takes you over the Samal barrage. Also, during dry weather, one could drive over the old (now submerged) road which would make an appearance!

Kaniha - Rengali used to be a narrow mostly unpaved (though OK surface) road. Now I see even that has been designated as NH200! No idea what it is like now.

Never taken the Khamar - Rengali road. Let us know!

When are you planning to do this trip?

Regards
Sutripta

[rahul4640]

Originally Posted by Sutripta

From Kaniha to the Banarpal - Pal Lahara road, there is ne which takes you over the Samal barrage. Also, during dry weather, one could drive over the old (now submerged) road which would make an appearance!

Dear Sutriptada, that portion of the old road is now totally collapsed and in ruins, barely visible. But for your personal pleasure, this is the Samal barrage from a distance, taken possibly 300 meters off the road (slightly cropped). I was joining the Talcher-Pal Lahara road driving down this Brahmani river, so possibly am fortunate to give you a picture from an odd angle.

And this is for your information of the structural dimension of this barrage.

Originally Posted by Sutripta

Kaniha - Rengali used to be a narrow mostly unpaved (though OK surface) road. Now I see even that has been designated as NH200! No idea what it is like now.

The road is still excellent, More importantly, it now runs entirely parallel to the Kaniha (NTPC)-Mahanadi Coalfield coal carrying railway line. This is a private railway line of NTPPC. Please see here one photo of the coal carrying trains from my side. The road is also visible in this picture.

Originally Posted by Sutripta

Never taken the Khamar - Rengali road. Let us know!

Here is a picture of the Rengali barrage. Sorry this does not reveal much.


This photo is slightly better but it also shows my wife, daughter and car.


And this is a picture of the road. I only assure you that the the road is more beautiful than it appears here.

Originally Posted by Sutripta

When are you planning to do this trip?

Anytime you say, Sir. It will always be my pleasure to accompany a veteran like you. I must admit that it is only from your postings in this forum that I first came across the names of these remote places.