[MDe]

Originally Posted by MrinalSinha

I always used to take this road. But during the last visit, in this month, the ORR has started which lets you avoid the whole NGP. You join the NH before Moda, actually you join the NH near the place where RTA check post start at the entry og NGP. When you did the trip in Jan, the route was under construtcion. try this bypass the next time you drive, provided you dont have to meet anyone in NGP city.

Good to hear about the ORR at Nagpur. I see one that goes right after buti bori, but when I am trying to select it on google maps, its not letting me take that. Would you be able to update on the traffic and road conditions on this road. As you said, this should definitely save a lot of time bypassing Nagpur. Also, any idea on the road conditions from Nagpur to Bhandara and beyond till Bhilai? Will appreciate some info

[MrinalSinha]

The road condition is very good on the ORR and the traffic is very thin. It helps me save 30-40 minutes, if I would take the route through the town. NGP to bhandara is a single lane route with heavy traffic, every doing around 60-70. The trucks slow you down all the while. I would suggest to go slow at this stretch as it is prone to accident. The roads till bhilai are very good except the ghat section after Bhandara which is still 2 lanes. All the remaining road is 4 lanes with Dividers. I take around 4 hours in thick traffic to do NGP-Bhilai. When I drive from Bhilai and start around 4 30 AM from my house (Nehru Nagar east), I touch Nagpur by 7 - 7:15 AM.

[MDe]

@Mrinal : Thanks for the information. So I will take the outer ring road at Nagpur. Any pointers on where I should expect the turn after Buto Bori? Do they have road signs around for help there.

[cool_dube]

Mods: Please update the title of the thread. Raipur is in CG and not MP.

[ramanak]

Originally Posted by MDe

@Mrinal : Thanks for the information. So I will take the outer ring road at Nagpur. Any pointers on where I should expect the turn after Buto Bori? Do they have road signs around for help there.

Did Blr-Raipur yesterday started at 12.20 AM from Bangalore on 8 nov 2012 and reached Raipur at 1.30 AM on 9 Nov.

Update on road sections;

1.Pandharkhwada / Hinghanghat sections contnue to be as ussual pathetic with no roads at all.I timed my journey so that I could cover these sections in day light (Learning from last trip,it was just impossible ,unsafe to drive these sections in night).I drive a civic, so i am forced to take these sections at crawling speeds.

2.ORR at Nagpur takes you straight to Bhandara without having to go through the city.Just after Butibori/Dongergoan, you will see a big poster banner showing Take left for Bhandara.Trafiic is lean in this stretch and saves a lot of time.

3.Maharashtra /CG border continues to be pathetic in small stretches especially near forest areas which come in between.

Rest of the road sections were very good.

Cheers.

[cool_dube]

Thanks for the detailed update.

Originally Posted by ramanak

Did Blr-Raipur yesterday started at 12.20 AM from Bangalore on 8 nov 2012 and reached Raipur at 1.30 AM on 9 Nov.

25 hours!! Are you sure you got this right? Or is it that you took longish breaks?

Originally Posted by ramanak

ORR at Nagpur takes you straight to Bhandara without having to go through the city.Just after Butibori/Dongergoan, you will see a big poster banner showing Take left for Bhandara.Trafiic is lean in this stretch and saves a lot of time.

I guess you got this wrong. The ORR takes you to NH6 somewhere around the outskirts of Nagpur. Bhandara is 70+ km from Nagpur

Originally Posted by ramanak

Maharashtra /CG border continues to be pathetic in small stretches especially near forest areas which come in between.

Last I drove, in Dec 2011, these sections were 2-laned but well surfaced. Sad to hear that they have gone bad.

[mayankjha1806]

Originally Posted by ramanak

Did Blr-Raipur yesterday started at 12.20 AM from Bangalore on 8 nov 2012 and reached Raipur at 1.30 AM on 9 Nov.

Thats like 25 hours? Did you stop somewhere for long? Or have the road conditions worsened so much.

When i did Raipur to Bangalore (December 2011), we started at 7AM and reached Bangalore at 3AM (about ~20 hours).

[ramanak]

Originally Posted by mayankjha1806

Thats like 25 hours? Did you stop somewhere for long? Or have the road conditions worsened so much.

When i did Raipur to Bangalore (December 2011), we started at 7AM and reached Bangalore at 3AM (about ~20 hours).

Yeah.20 -21 hours is my normal time as well.Took 3 nap breaks since i was driving with a 102 fever and I took a wrong road in Hyderabad.Took the Medak road instead of Medchal road wasted about an hour there.And I don't drive at speeds more than 110 KMPH.

[ramanak]

Originally Posted by cool_dube

Thanks for the detailed update.


25 hours!! Are you sure you got this right? Or is it that you took longish breaks?

How much time do you normally take, which vehicle do you drive? I took 3 nap breaks since I was down with fever and I lost some time in Hyderabad as well.When I do these longish drives, I drive slowly during last few hours.

Originally Posted by cool_dube

I guess you got this wrong. The ORR takes you to NH6 somewhere around the outskirts of Nagpur. Bhandara is 70+ km from Nagpur

OK.Thanks for the information.

Originally Posted by cool_dube

Last I drove, in Dec 2011, these sections were 2-laned but well surfaced. Sad to hear that they have gone bad.

Bad by sedan standards.SUVs should be able to breeze through though.

[MDe]

Originally Posted by ramanak

Bad by sedan standards.SUVs should be able to breeze through though.

I am worried now. I am driving a Cruze all the way from Hyderabad.

I agree with Cool_Dube, as far as I have seen on Google, ORR at Nagpur takes you just out of NGP, but you still have a long way to reach Bhandara.

Also, I thought that roads after Bhandara were a breeze till Bhilai, but I gather from your thread that the border roads are not that great and not suitable for sedans. Crossed fingers!

[cool_dube]

Originally Posted by MDe

I am worried now. I am driving a Cruze all the way from Hyderabad.

No worries. Just checked with my BIL at Raipur - he keeps doing RPR-NGP frequently. Bhandara-Raipur stretch is indeed a breeze. From what I understand, the AP/MH border area might be a pain though.

When are you leaving BTW?

[ramanak]

Originally Posted by MDe

I am worried now. I am driving a Cruze all the way from Hyderabad.

I agree with Cool_Dube, as far as I have seen on Google, ORR at Nagpur takes you just out of NGP, but you still have a long way to reach Bhandara.

Also, I thought that roads after Bhandara were a breeze till Bhilai, but I gather from your thread that the border roads are not that great and not suitable for sedans. Crossed fingers!

MDe,just take these sections slowly,you should be fine.My fully loaded Civic did not scrape/bottom out anywhere.So Cruze should do OK too.

[MDe]

Originally Posted by ramanak

MDe,just take these sections slowly,you should be fine.My fully loaded Civic did not scrape/bottom out anywhere.So Cruze should do OK too.

Thanks everyone for the route info. I took the road and things worked fine. I started from NGP around 10AM and touched Kompally around 3:15 at Hyderabad. The road goes bad after a few kms when you take a turn from Jamb. The railway crossing wasted around 15 mins of time. Extremely bad roads followed for about 30Kms where you just cant speed up. Had to steer through the extremely bad patches of road carefully. Did not scrape the bottom at all, but was a real test of suspensions and the tyres. The rest of the road is a breeze to drive and I was able to constantly maintain 140 with some areas of upto 160. Was fun overall.

NGP ORR is very good as well and saved a lot of time. It is fun to drive on the road and I recommend this road for anyone who wants to go towards Jabalpur or Raipur.

[cool_dube]

Drove from Bangalore to Raipur and back recently. Onward drive was done in one shot - here is a quick summary:

• Bangalore-Hyderabad: A breeze, as expected. One of the best highways in India I reckon. Took the Nehru ORR from Shamshabad till Gachibowli and then Medak road till Medchal (exit on NH7). The attendant at the ORR toll booth was of the opinion that the NH9/NH7 section of the ORR will be commissioned in the next month or so, which once done, will enable a smooth bypass from Shamshabad all the way till Medchal without having to get off the ORR.
• Hyderabad-Nagpur: Excellent roads again, except the two stretches (approximately 20 km each) b/w Pandharkawda and Hinganghat. If these are done up, drive time can be reduced by at least a half-hour, if not more. The second stretch is particularly bad, with huge craters and practically no road in some sections. The new Nagpur bypass is awesome and saves a lot of time as compared to the old RR.
• Nagpur-Raipur: Nagpur-Bhandara is still a pain, being 2-laned and congested. The 4-lane stretch then on is excellent till Durg. Durg bypass is still 2-lane (4-laning WIP) but saves time if you are crossing Durg during the day. Getting through the Bhilai-Kumhari stretch is again a pain as the NH literally passes through these townships with traffic lights and local 2/4 wheelers making it very congested.

Overall journey time - 22 hours including tea/bio breaks and a leisurely lunch break at Nagpur.

[yogesh.janghel]

Originally Posted by cool_dube

Drove from Bangalore to Raipur and back recently. Onward drive was done in one shot - here is a quick summary:

• Bangalore-Hyderabad: A breeze, as expected. One of the best highways in India I reckon. Took the Nehru ORR from Shamshabad till Gachibowli and then Medak road till Medchal (exit on NH7). The attendant at the ORR toll booth was of the opinion that the NH9/NH7 section of the ORR will be commissioned in the next month or so, which once done, will enable a smooth bypass from Shamshabad all the way till Medchal without having to get off the ORR.
• Hyderabad-Nagpur: Excellent roads again, except the two stretches (approximately 20 km each) b/w Pandharkawda and Hinganghat. If these are done up, drive time can be reduced by at least a half-hour, if not more. The second stretch is particularly bad, with huge craters and practically no road in some sections. The new Nagpur bypass is awesome and saves a lot of time as compared to the old RR.
• Nagpur-Raipur: Nagpur-Bhandara is still a pain, being 2-laned and congested. The 4-lane stretch then on is excellent till Durg. Durg bypass is still 2-lane (4-laning WIP) but saves time if you are crossing Durg during the day. Getting through the Bhilai-Kumhari stretch is again a pain as the NH literally passes through these townships with traffic lights and local 2/4 wheelers making it very congested.

Overall journey time - 22 hours including tea/bio breaks and a leisurely lunch break at Nagpur.

Hi Cool Dube
Need help. Need to travel from Bangalore to Raipur. From your notes, pain point can be crossing hyderabad city and Nagpur city. What are your suggestions ? Is Nagpur bypass all done ? Should I cross hyd from main city or sud i take ORR?

thanks