[ASHISHPALLOD]

Please note that Tawandi ghat turn off at hotel Goa Wes toward uttur, first 10 km is in Karnataka state which is in bad condition as per previous posts here.
From 10 km onwards till Banda via uttur_ajra_amboli_ sawantwadi is in Maharashtra state.

[Sawyer]

Good point; the border in that parts is very confusing from south of Kagal. So it appears that the really bad parts of the road, after leaving the highway is a KA problem; though why the first couple of kilometres is still in excellent condition is a mystery. Perhaps it never got damaged last year.
And of course, the poor quality of repairs between Ajra and Amboli remains down to MH.
Which is a pity because this road is by far the shortest into North Goa.
North Goa is also a bit of shambles with the massive highway expansion which looks like being built to land aircraft as well! There are service roads, but the surface quality in one of the two lanes is often very poor. But it does look like once done, Banda to Porvorim will be a very fast run indeed, compared to before commencing the work. It will reinforce Chorla's being slower for North Goa, even if the Amboli route remains in poor shape. On which - does it help to save half the pain there by using Sankeshwar to Ajra?

[Ertigiat]

Sharing few photos of Anmod ghat taken this Saturday,









Underpass for flow of water





The trench at Goa-Karnataka border makes crossing over of four wheeler impossible, so some smart people ensure another vehicle is waiting across the border to ferry passengers. Like one in the photo.



Amboli being in pathetic shape Chorla route continues to be in overload state & looking at the progress of the work, I really doubt if the road will be ready for use before monsoon (As mentioned by contractor).

As of now there is no alternative to Chorla route but once the work of Anmod ghat is complete, it will be fastest route from Belgaum to South Goa.

[abhinavj01]

Hi All,

Please advise on the best route (from Pune) to South Goa (Cavelossim).
Weirdly, Google maps still suggests via Belgaum-Khanapur-Anmod

For my past trips, I have travelled via Belgaum-Chorla-Sanquelim-Ponda-Borim-Madgao

Is this still the best option?

[vivek95]

Has anybody who recently travelled by Chorla route taken the pics of the overloaded traffic ?? Are there like traffic snarls at multiple points enroute ??

[kotirajendra]

I did Belgaum - Panjim thru Chorla ghats on 29th March. Started from Belgaum at 6:30 AM. Traffic was very on the ghats and was moderate (by Pune standards) till Panjim. I did not face any instance of overloaded traffic - maybe because it was early in the day.

[ruzbehxyz]

Originally Posted by vivek95

Has anybody who recently travelled by Chorla route. Are there like traffic snarls at multiple points enroute ??

Took the Chorla ghat route in 1st week of April to and fro from Mumbai to Goa. The road in the ghat area is entirely single lane and surface very good. There is quite a bit of traffic both ways probably because Anmod ghat is closed. This ghat is a treat to drive on and presently the fastest route from Mumbai to Goa especially central and south Goa.

[ShadowGT]

Came back from Goa (ozran/little vagatore) to Pune on 15th April, through Amboli-Ajra route. I had avoided this route due to bad road conditions which I had experienced during a trip to Goa in October 2018. I am happy to report, that most of the patchwork on this route is completed, I did not see extensive stretches of craters/potholes as earlier, and it was a smooth quick drive. Nippani-Ajra Link road was in good conditions as well, compared to last year.

[nick.cs]

Did a quick run to goa (calangute) last week. After reading through multiple discussions went through the chorla route. Left from santacruz a little later than intended at 9pm. Couldn't avoid the S bend truck traffic at Amrutanjan and lost 30 mins over there. Lost another 30 mins at Wai ghat section due to accident as a VRL bus had rear ended a truck. Not much damage to the bus thankfully.

The stretch from Kolhapur to Belgaum is an absolute peach. Thoroughly enjoyed driving in that section. The entry to chorla is a little painful with multiple speed breakers. However the ghat section in itself is in very good condition. Traffic was light throughout the section as i did it in the morning around 8.30 am. The only problem here being behind a truck or ST bus which is not exactly very slow and hence cannot be easily overtaken as overtaking opportunities are limited due to continuous bends so you need to be a little patient. Reached calangute at around 11am as we took multiple short breaks in between.

[Ertigiat]

Originally Posted by vivek95

Has anybody who recently travelled by Chorla route taken the pics of the overloaded traffic ?? Are there like traffic snarls at multiple points enroute ??

I do not have pictures of overloaded traffic but I experienced it myself.

I planned to attend a family gathering at Mumbai during last week of April. I started on 19th April (Sunday) at around 7.30 AM from Margao. The drive was breeze till I reached Keri. But thereafter it was utter chaos.

At one of the turns in ghat section KSRTC bus and Orange Travels bus were not able to pass through because of narrow width. This lead to massive traffic pile up. It was very tiring to drive through start-stop traffic.

To get rid to tiredness, we stopped at Delta Ecohuts for a quick tea break. Probably I won't eat/stop at that restaurant hereafter. No one was available at counter to take orders, limited people (only 2) at service counter were making it difficult to ensure you get the food you have ordered. Overpriced bland food, clogged urinals made the experience very unpleasant & We lost more than 45 minutes in this affair.

Faced another roadblock/traffic jam just before Kankumbi because of accident. Finally reached Nippani at 12.45 PM. It usually takes me 3.5 hours to reach Nippani from Margao (without break).

While returning started from Nippani on 26th April at around 7.00 AM and reached Margao at 10.30 AM (without any breaks). The journey was uneventful but right after Swapnagandha Resort I could see Belgaum bound traffic piled up because of a truck rear ending another truck. We were lucky to escape traffic jam since there wasn't any Goa bound traffic.

There is no doubt about condition of road being pristine but this route is simply not meant to take so much of traffic. Narrow road width, umpteen number of turns and over speeding vehicles make drive very uncomfortable.

I hope Anmod section is completed on time & is thrown open for traffic.

Meanwhile I am tempted to try Tilari ghat as the tarmac completely relaid and traffic is sparse.

[Amey Kulkarni]

Hey Peeps!

Did a bike ride from Pune to Goa last fortnight.

We were to take Chorla originally to proceed to Goa but turned right post Nipani at Goa Ves to take risk of Amboli instead.

We were highly surprised to notice patched up roads initially till Azra and then freshly laid tarmac right till descent of Amboli Ghat.

Extremely happy with this route and a big thumbs up to reach North Goa. Saved over an hour comparing Chorla via Belgaum for sure.

Cheers,
Amey

[Trojan]

Yes, Amboli ghat has fresh tarmac all the way, its super and saves a lot of time as compared to Chorla. The fresh tar though is not very fine and it will be interesting to see whether it is able to sustain the heavy rainfall of the region, I suspect it will be back to its potholed nature before the end of the monsoons - and I sincerely hope I am wrong.

Until last year inspite of the additional distance I was sworn to Chorla ghat, but the constant increase in traffic on the route takes a toll eventually and then starts the never-ending stretch of Keri - Sanquelim - Bicholim - Tivim.

On the return, like the last few times, stopped for dinner at Aangan restaurant - around 5kms before the NH on the Uttur - Nippani road. Absolutely fabulous food.

That stretch though is still a sore place for cars and one has to be careful and drive slow.

Cheers,

[Sagarpradhan85]

Hello, I am intending to drive from Pune to Goa next week. Everytime I check google maps, it always routes me through the Anmod route. Having read posts here, it appears that Anmod is in a bad state. However google thinks it is the fastest! That makes me wonder if Chorla route is slow or there is something I am missing beyond the Chorla ghat.

I noticed that drive from Chorla to Colva shows about 2 hrs for 70odd kilometres. Isnt that high?

[Trojan]

Originally Posted by Sagarpradhan85

Hello, I am intending to drive from Pune to Goa next week. Everytime I check google maps, it always routes me through the Anmod route. Having read posts here, it appears that Anmod is in a bad state. However google thinks it is the fastest! That makes me wonder if Chorla route is slow or there is something I am missing beyond the Chorla ghat.

I noticed that drive from Chorla to Colva shows about 2 hrs for 70odd kilometres. Isnt that high?

Since you are traveling to Colva (S.Goa) Chorla would be the fastest and best route.
Once you have descended the ghat, you will reach Sanquelim from under the bridge. At this point, you need to turn right for Panaji and onwards to South.
Roads all the way from Panaji upto Margao are being widened and multiple flyovers are being made throughout including new bridges over the rivers. Be careful and vigilant about diversions and oncoming traffic.

Cheers,

[bevivek]

I am going from Pune to Bernaulim (South Goa - between Colva and Cavelossim) next weekend

Have gone through the informative updates by Vivek95, Ertigiat, ComfortablyNumb and several others. It is a pity that the suggested route through Anmod and Mollem is closed now. I have already done the Chorla ghats and Amboli ghat routes earlier and it would have been nice to check out a new route (I was particularly intrigued by Vivek95's mention of wild life sightings on this route. Since I am traveling with 2 kids it would have been something to look forward to).

Given the Amboli route also appears to be in bad shape, the route through Chorla ghats seems to be the only real option from Belgaum towards Goa

Where I need some suggestions is that, as others have also pointed out there are big traffic pile ups near Ponda and the Mandovi bridge.

So is there any alternate route to Bernaulim which avoids Ponda once one has reached Sanquelim?