[binand]

Originally Posted by ajithbr

Now the question is how is route via Gudalur-Nilambur as well as Hunsur-Kutta? Also how is Bangalore to Iritty (for Kannur/Payyannur side) roads now? Not a fan of Mysore-Mananthavady route but how is it the current situation of that road now compared to Hunsur-Kutta route, and is there night time travel restrictions in this route?

Nilambur was the worst hit during this year's floods. The Nadugani ghats was closed for a while. This route might not be advisable.

Hunsur-Kutta should be OK, but I've heard that road quality near Mananthavady has deteriorated a bit.

Mysore-Mananthavadi (Handpost-Bavali route) does have night travel restrictions. It takes slightly less time than Hunsur-Kutta (about 30 mins I'd say). Road conditions used to be similar.

[Vysakh]

Originally Posted by mpksuhas

I had done Bangalore - Calicut - Bangalore during first week of October. Roads are fine overall, however it was patchy between Muthanga - Batherry & around Lakkidi. But else as such its fine, nothing to be concerned about as such.

Some of the patchy sections have small but deep potholes now. Should be concerned.

[ajithbr]

Originally Posted by binand

...
The Nadugani ghats was closed for a while.
...
Hunsur-Kutta should be OK, but I've heard that road quality near Mananthavady has deteriorated a bit.
...
Mysore-Mananthavadi (Handpost-Bavali route) does have night travel restrictions.
...

Overall, it looks like stick to S.Battery route, even though there are rough patches from Kerala border to Bathery as well as some deep craters in some of the curves and hairpin bends in the ghat section.

[Xaos636]

Guys an update. The Gundulpet toll and the one near Mysore are both operational now. I dont know if one can collect toll on such small roads to begin with. I thought it would never be operational and the worst fears have come true. No fastag here. Only cash.

[binand]

Originally Posted by Xaos636

The Gundulpet toll and the one near Mysore are both operational now. [...] No fastag here. Only cash.

Drove back to Bangalore yesterday. Took a tip from another thread, told the toll booth guy that I have Fastag, please scan it. He simply waved me through - no cash payment, no tag account deduction so far.

At Gundlupet I chose to meander through Ch. Nagar district and not try to reach Bangalore quickly. So first went to Ch. Nagar town via good old SH 81. This road has been repaired and widened for long stretches, culverts have been rebuilt etc.

Ch. Nagar town now has a bypass connecting the Gundlupet and Nanjangud roads. This lets you avoid the chaos near the bus stand (you still have to go through the last signal to turn to Kollegal road, but that looked like a free left to me). This bypass looks a bit abandoned, and there seems to be indications of a bigger, better bypass with interchanges/grade separators for these radial roads. Looking in Google Maps satellite view, I think this bypass is part of the NH 948 redevelopment project and ought to be a welcome addition to the road infrastructure here.

Widening/four-laning work is happening in the Ch. Nagar - Santhemarahalli section too; with the road having only one lane for some distance.

At Santhemarahalli I chose to go straight towards T. Narasipura. This road is in shambles till the point where it meets the one coming from Kollegal. From there is is quite good with smooth surface and lane markings.

T. Narasipura's bridge network at the Kaveri-Kabini confluence is quite confusing. First, you have to take a right lane to get onto the Kabini bridge. At its other end you have to go under an overbridge to turn right - where you are greeted with two functional bridges over Kaveri (old and new, I guess). I took the right one which looked newer and sturdier, and seemed to be preferred by the local traffic.

Then came the loop around Sosale and the road towards Purigali (I refused to listen to Google Maps telling me to join the Mysure-Malavalli road instead). At Purigali turned towards Malavalli - to my surprise, even this road is being widened.

From Malavalli I took the amazingly good Malavalli-Maddur road. In terms of quality it is at par with the Nanjangud-Gundlupet section. At Maddur joined the good old Bangalore-Mysore road.

BM Road is being widened and the detours and stuff related to that are all in place. One thing I noticed is that between Maddur-Ramanagara it looks like the plan is to have 3+3 laned main road and service roads on both sides. In fact 6-laning work seems to be complete in sections (though the extra lane is functioning only as a parking zone at the moment). All said and done, I don't think I'll be taking this road again for some more time.

The NICE toll is daylight robbery now. Rs. 105 for the 24 km from Mysore Road-Hosur Road. Which took me about 35 mins to complete (I don't drive on the shoulder; those who chose to might have had better timings).

Btw, saw a few more restaurants that had good-looking frontages (like White House) near Thamarassery. There is even a drive-through. One is this:

https://goo.gl/maps/PzVA5rcGxKiFRJae8

[Rajeevraj]

Drove Calicut-Bangalore on 4th. Good road conditions throughout. Only thing worthwhile to report is that both the toll booths have fastag enabled now. There is no signage at the Bandipur toll yet and there is a small temporary signage at the Mysore toll.

Bathery to Muthanga has got/is getting a fresh layer of tar. Used to always be slightly patchy as compared to the other stretches. Expected heavy traffic, but was smooth sailing throughout with no delays anywhere on Bangalore-Mysore Road.

Quite surprised to see the pace of work for the Mysore road 6 laning on the Kengeri-Channapatna stretch. Seems to be progressing at a brisk pace. Still a long way to go though. Looks like the overall approach to the expressway is similar to the Hebbal-Airport stretch. A mix of above grade and at grade roads with service roads.

[NPV]

Originally Posted by Rajeevraj

Only thing worthwhile to report is that both the toll booths have fastag enabled now. There is no signage at the Bandipur toll yet and there is a small temporary signage at the Mysore toll.

How much is the toll fee at each of these tolls ?

Quite surprised to see the pace of work for the Mysore road 6 laning on the Kengeri-Channapatna stretch. Seems to be progressing at a brisk pace.

Good to know, haven't been that side in a while

[Rajeevraj]

Originally Posted by NPV

How much is the toll fee at each of these tolls ?

Rs 25 at the Bandipur exit toll and 45 at the Mysore toll. So 70 if you are driving Mysore to Bandipur.

Personally disagree with this toll levy though. It should have been a proper 4 lane road for it to be tolled. Here only the Mysore Nanjangud stretch is a 4 lane. Rest is a good two lane, but not a drastic upgrade over the previous 2 lane road in my opinion.

[Xaos636]

The toll near Gundulpet was surprisingly not working today. Forget fastag, there wasnt even a single soul near this toll. So I had to only pay ₹45 at the toll near mysore and fastag works very fast here. This was around 6AM.

[Rajeevraj]

Originally Posted by Xaos636

The toll near Gundulpet was surprisingly not working today. Forget fastag, there wasnt even a single soul near this toll. So I had to only pay ₹45 at the toll near mysore and fastag works very fast here. This was around 6AM.

Interesting. I guess since the traffic on the Bandipur forest is restricted from 9pm to 6am, this toll will not have vehicle movement till around 6.10-6.15am I suppose.

But leaving it unattended is pretty strange.

[mpksuhas]

Did a Bangalore - Moolehole Check post drive on 10-May to drop my sister and aunt at border. They were picked up from border by my brother who came in another car from Calicut.


Listing down process and details for others.

Getting KL entry permit

Since my sister is pregnant and she is traveling to Calicut for delivery, emergency permit was applied though CovidJagrata portal

She had to upload a letter from doctor certifying that she is not having any Covid related symptoms. Do note that its NOT a Covid negative test report, but a letter from doctor mentioning that no visible symptoms are present.

Along with this, the usual documents - ID proof and all were uploaded.

Earlier application was rejected since doctor letter was not uploaded and she had to reapply for the same.

The second time, with all documents, application was approved within half hour.


Calicut to KL border permit

My brother had applied for a separate pass for driving till KL border from Calicut to pick up my sister. He too used the same link mentioned above with reason as to pick of person from border. Approval for that too was done within an hour.


KA inter district pass

There was a declaration form KA police that those who are going out of state with valid pass from another state need not apply for KA inter district pass. However, in my case I had a return drive from border and also to be on safer side, I applied KA inter district pass for both sides from the below link.

KA inter district pass

The process is very simple and quick. However, do note that the pass is valid for only the date you select and you can apply only two passes (onward and return) from a single phone number (validated via OTP).



The drive

Started from home near HSR around 07.45 AM on 10-May, took Silkboard - NICE road Hosur entry. Decided to take Kanakapura road since roads past Mysore is blocked since it passes through containment zone.

Traffic on Kanakapura road was high for a lock-down Sunday morning. Past Kanakapura traffic thins out and the first checkpost is just before Halagur. Location is roughly around here

There one need to get out of the car and share the vehicle details, your name, destination and details like that. There was a queue of around 5 people, so it took few minutes since not everyone was having pass causing delay since officers were explaining the process.


Past that there was no checking till the second check-post soon after you get off bridge over river Kaveri at Satyagala (near turn off to Barachukki falls)
Location

Here too, like Halagur checkpost one need to get your details entered.

Then it was smooth sailing till Bandipur forest gate, where forest department notes down the pass and vehicle details.

There wasn't much crowd enroute and we reached Moolehole checkpost around 01.00 PM.


On KA side, they verify the KA pass, KL pass and note down your details in the register.

On the bridge which is the KA-KL border, KL police personnel and forest department personnel is present. They check the documents and name against the pass and ID card and let you through.


My brother was allowed to drive till here, so its only a short walk after parking car at KA side. We saw another two groups getting down in cabs at KA border, crossing to KL and getting in to a KL cab and proceeding further.

KL side details as given by my brother below -

There is a line of taxi cabs awaiting passengers who are coming in KA cabs or getting dropped like in my case at border.

The same is managed by an RTO who is present at border. One need to contact the RTO personnel and they will arrange the cab for you. The price is fixed and the cabs can be hired till your home or till the medical check point mentioned below.

Cabs awaiting near border bridge -




Past that just ahead of RTO /Excise checkpost, fire force will spray disinfectant on the vehicles. Since brother had gone in the car only to pick up from border, it wasn't done for him.


Ahead of this, at the excise check-post, there is a 3 step verification.

1. Revenue department official will note validate the permit you are carrying.
2. An education department official will note down your details, number of passengers, exit point from Wayanad if you are headed to another district. Picture of car and passengers are taken and uploaded through an app on their phone. A Thasildar oversees this operation.
3. Just ahead of that, there is another check-post by police where they collect just the contact details and name. No document check done here. Once done, they will hand over a paper with number of passengers in car with a seal from SP of police. The only process where any contact is involved.


Also, do note that private vehicles going to pick up passengers from border are allowed only till here are per process. One is expected to take taxi from border till here if they were dropped at KA border like our case. However, on requesting with police officials there, brother was allowed till border since it was a medical case.

Some 5KMs from here, just when the farm section which is a frequent location for speed governors earlier is the medical check point.


Rough location here
Its a temporary setup created, there was around 20 cars and 10 bikes when they arrived.

At the entrance, there is a small booth were they write down details, where they direct to waiting area. Before entering waiting area, 2 staffs make sure that you wash hands is the wash basins there.
Hand wash is provided. Even hand sanitizers are kept at everywhere. Wait time is a bit long. However since sister was pregnant, they gave her priority.

Those coming are send to a medical screening room where temperature check is done and explained about quarantine procedure.

They asked to contact the ward member/ Asha worker/ Councillor of the area your house is located and inform about the arrival. Health officials are supposed to reach the house before travelers arrival and check if house is suitable for home quarantine. Otherwise institutional quarantine will be provided.

At the time of exit, police will note down the vehicle number and district you are travelling to, then you need to wait in your vehicle till the convoy is formed and police take you till Wayanad border. This took around 15 minutes for them.

A police constable was offering water bottles to all drivers in the meantime. Convoy of around 10 vehicles are then taken till Wayand border. The convoy goes through Kalpetta town instead of bye-pass, may be since due to lock-down and lesser traffic its faster this way and less bumpy.

At Lakidi, police officers takes the details again. A confirmation that you are exiting Wayanad district. Just ahead at the CLT - Wayanad gate, there is health officials from CLT district you takes down details of every passengers in the car.
The details are again entered in app along with the photos are a proof that no one is left out.

My brothers details were not taken down since he had just gone for pickup. Here quarantine procedure is explained again.


Few points to note-

• Do carry multiple print out of passes with you. They do accept soft copy, but printout is less hassle and safer.
• Carry sufficient water and food for your drive. No restaurants are open.
• Officials manning the check posts were very polite and straightforward. This was something which I noticed in KA and my brother mentioned the same about KL side too.
• Sadly the personnel manning the KA side check posts were not having any gloves, sanitizers or a proper mask (they were using cloth masks)
• Food was offered at Calicut border to all car passengers, since they were carrying lunch, they declined.
• KA police personnel who was at border check-post asked if we want to cross border and drop my sister at medical camp and come so as to avoid making her walk. If KL police agrees for the same, he is fine with that. This was mentioned even without me requesting him anything. However, we didn't require the same since brother was allowed till border.
• Toilets are available at medical testing center.

Drive time:

Onward - 07.45 AM to 01.00 PM
Return - 01.25 PM to 05.50 PM with a 15 min lunch break for having packed lunch.

Kerala war room number
0471- 2781100
0471- 2781101

Norka Bangalore
080-25585090

[pramodpk]

Originally Posted by mpksuhas

Did a Bangalore - Moolehole Check post drive on 10-May to drop my sister and aunt at border.

Thanks for the info. I will be travelling to Kerala on May 30th via Muthanga.
Planning to go to take the following route Whiteield - Kanakpura - Malavalli - Kollegal - Chamaraj Nagar - Gundlupet - Bandipur - Muthanga.

Hope you also had taken this route. If there is a better one, please suggest.

Also, any idea how the route from Silk board to Kanakpura road via outer ring road is?

[mpksuhas]

Originally Posted by pramodpk

Hope you also had taken this route. If there is a better one, please suggest.

Also, any idea how the route from Silk board to Kanakpura road via outer ring road is?

Yes. That's the same route I took.

Regarding, Silk board to Kanakapura, it's been some 6 months that I took the route. I felt it was easier through NICE due to bad sections where metro work was ongoing.

[vignesh.cv]

Originally Posted by mpksuhas

Did a Bangalore - Moolehole Check post drive on 10-May to drop my sister and aunt at border. They were picked up from border by my brother who came in another car from Calicut.

Suhas, would you know if the roads after Mysore are opened for thoroughfare? I'm planning to undertake a similar journey to drop off people at the Moolehole checkpost tomorrow morning.

Thanks !

[mpksuhas]

Originally Posted by vignesh.cv

would you know if the roads after Mysore are opened for thoroughfare!

No first hand information regarding the same, however a mutual friend mentioned that it's open.