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View Poll Results: Which State has the worst Highways in India?
Andhra Pradesh 18 2.11%
Arunachal Pradesh 4 0.47%
Assam 6 0.70%
Bihar 35 4.10%
Chhattisgarh 4 0.47%
Goa 3 0.35%
Gujarat 2 0.23%
Haryana 30 3.51%
Himachal Pradesh 5 0.59%
Jharkhand 3 0.35%
Karnataka 54 6.32%
Kerala 324 37.94%
Madhya Pradesh 15 1.76%
Maharashtra 244 28.57%
Manipur 2 0.23%
Meghalaya 1 0.12%
Mizoram 2 0.23%
Nagaland 7 0.82%
Odisha 4 0.47%
Punjab 5 0.59%
Rajasthan 3 0.35%
Sikkim 4 0.47%
Tamil Nadu 4 0.47%
Telangana 1 0.12%
Tripura 0 0%
Uttar Pradesh 28 3.28%
Uttarakhand 6 0.70%
West Bengal 40 4.68%
Voters: 854. You may not vote on this poll

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Old 17th February 2022, 17:40   #106
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Re: Which State has the worst Highways in India?

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Originally Posted by Turbohead View Post
Voted Kerala LOL!



The only way to tackle Kerala roads is to travel at night. I prefer to do all inter city trips between 9 PM and 8 AM.
In NH-66,that is possible only in certain stretches like Kozhikode-Edapally or Aroor- Kollam. Rest places it doesn't matter whether it is day or night. Only relief is that three wheelers will be comparatively less during odd hours at night. Worst is Kasargod- Kozhikode and Kollam-Trivandrum stretch. The tendency to do stupid maneuvers to overtake is very high in these roads due to frustration, resulting in fatalities.
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Old 17th February 2022, 18:02   #107
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Re: Which State has the worst Highways in India?

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Originally Posted by amol4184 View Post
Pune - Ahmednagar - Shirdi is a nightmare, plain and simple. There could be some respite if you are coming from Mumbai (via Igatpuri) but as you get closer to Shirdi it gets bad and keeps getting worse every passing meter. Those who are in low slung small cars/sedans, boy your car is in for torture. Please be careful.
This post surely takes me back 9 years when i drove a Figo in that stretch of road. Everytime i hit a pothole my heart sank and thankfully i didnt damage the Zoomcar vehicle which already was abused.

Heavy trucks and sugar cane filled tractors filled in this road will never fade from my memory
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Old 17th February 2022, 18:22   #108
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Re: Which State has the worst Highways in India?

Voted for Maharashtra undoubtedly. One thing which doesn't need justification. It can be seen.

After Kolhapur, towards the South, you feel like you've entered a different country altogether.
Going northwards post Mumbai, you get the same feeling.

Heavy Road tax on cars, exorbitant toll rates on NHs but no improvement in the road conditions whatsoever.

Cheers,
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Old 17th February 2022, 18:23   #109
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Re: Which State has the worst Highways in India?

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Originally Posted by CrAzY dRiVeR View Post
A state where we cannot plan long journeys with the shortest routes in mind - but we take the route with the shortest exit onto Tamil Nadu highways
Lol, guess what, I had to use the exact same route with couple of minor deviations. The start was Bangalore and destination was Kanyakumari. This was couple of years back. The onward drive was the exact same route as marked (from Coimbatore) in your maps with me crossing most of Kerala in the dead of night reaching Kanyakumari at 5AM. On the way back, I took the route via TN highways doing the entire drive in daytime. I saved close to 5 hours despite reaching Salem in peak traffic hours and it was far less stressful than the onward trip. Since then, unless its the annual visit to Guruvayur, I simply stay away from Kerala highways.

Last edited by SR-71 : 17th February 2022 at 18:31.
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Old 17th February 2022, 18:25   #110
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Re: Which State has the worst Highways in India?

Hands down this crown has to be won by Maharashtra.
Apart from the Golden Quadrilateral section Ahmadabad - Mumbai - Pune - Banglore, Every other road is pathetically bad. Mumbai Nashik has such big potholes that can swallow car.

And if you leave Western Maharashtra to go east (Toward Nagpur or Chhattisgarh), we can just say that there are no roads at all. I work in Mumbai but I am originally from Nagpur region. And it is such a pain to take car from Mumbai to Nagpur. Hundreds of Kilometers between Jalna and Wardha are unsafe, narrow, potholed dual carriage way. Even the National Highway Mumbai - Kolkata is despicable dual carriageway between Bhusawal and Akola. And if you talk about state highways, less we speak better it is.

Kerala roads are narrow, but considering the size of population, expanse and traffic, I would say that no one is behind Maharashtra in the list of developed states. Even other states in the list of BIMARU are faring much better than Maharashtra. I will mentioned Madhya Pradesh specifically here. The Government has done an amazing job there. I still remember my trips to my Mother's hometown in childhood. My family used to take MSRTS bus (Lal Dabba) from Nagpur to Jabalpur. And during that journey , everyone knew that Maharashtra ended and MP started because of the potholes. Road were so bad 20 years back in MP that even dead bodies would have awaken in hearse van. I used to mock my cousins in MP. But now the tables have turned and my cousins mock me on road condition in Maharashtra as general.
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Old 17th February 2022, 18:30   #111
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Re: Which State has the worst Highways in India?

Definitely Kerala for me, of the roads I have driven in South and West India. Having travelled multiple times between Trivandrum and Calicut (376 kms), there were times when I had taken even 10 to 12 hours. The average speed in most of these journeys were 35 to 40 kmph.
And finally after getting in to the express way before and after Ernakulam, I have received multiple speeding tickets - some of them for ridiculously low speed of 55 kmph. And the expressways are another joke with a traffic signal in almost every 1 to 2 kms.
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Old 17th February 2022, 18:35   #112
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Re: Which State has the worst Highways in India?

Kerala - winner winner chicken dinner. It’s my native. But I study in Mangalore
I am so lucky to be born and brought up in north Kerala of kannur district. So I can easily reach karnataka for the good double lane highways.
The swarm of traffic further south is even terrible. The roads are narrower. The quality of roads are good. I must admit.
The traffic density is Absolutely terrible
The irony of these Kerala road is, there is Speed Cam on national highways. It’s absolutely useless during day time. You can hardly go over 40kmph let alone go over the speed limit.
Lol.
And the only time you can go over speed limit is after 11pm.
I travel frequently Mangalore-Payyanur.
I know the locations of all speed cams now.
So I’ll be maintaining about 90-100 kmph (after 10pm in the night) throughout, and when I reach near the speed cam I slow down
And I also know at what exact speed it detects over speeding. Up till 80-85 it does not detect.
Because once a KA car overtook me while I was doing 80 and the speed cam flashed.

You find cyclists, rickshaw, Ambulance, Hero Splendor, Honda Activas, Porsche Cayenne and Tata Nano travelling at the same pace. All are equal once you enter Kerala. You’ve 150cc 10 hp engine or 4litre 500 hp engine. Nobody cares.

Also there is a way to drive in Kerala, which we Keralites know.
Everyone except lunatic bus drivers follow
Just be in flow with the traffic. Doing 40kmph.
Never try to overtake. Because you cannot!
Honking is absolutely useless.
All the best who come to visit Kerala. It’s best travelled by train.
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Old 17th February 2022, 18:48   #113
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Re: Which State has the worst Highways in India?

I voted for Kerala. Unfortunately, Kerala is not capable of completing one single four-laned highway end to end, whereas TN has started building four-laned state highways now.

I prefer to take Mysuru - Coorg - Mangalore - Udupi route which is longer than the Palghat - Mallapuram - Kozhikode - Mangalore route from Coimbatore because of the sheer poor road conditions in Kerala. Driving there will kill one's patience always.
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Old 17th February 2022, 19:14   #114
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Re: Which State has the worst Highways in India?

I've not travelled in many parts of India by road, and hence would avoid selecting one option from the poll. Kerala is definitely bad, not mainly because of the road quality, but because of so many other factors which slow you down, one of those factors includes the interceptors

Quote:
Originally Posted by das_ren_auto View Post
As a traveler who frequently traverses across the state (literally) from Kasaragod to Thiruvananthapuram , I vouch for Kerala being number one in this category. A distance of around 640 km takes approx. 15-16 hours. And irony is that the time taken is same both at day time and night time.
Your numbers reminded me of our test trips in Germany. We used to travel from Stuttgart (South Germany) to a test centre in Papenburg (North Germany), almost the same distance. We used to cover 640 odd Kms in less than 7 hours. Ok, I know I'm comparing apples to oranges, but still.

Spike

Last edited by SPIKE ARRESTOR : 17th February 2022 at 19:15.
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Old 17th February 2022, 19:22   #115
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Re: Which State has the worst Highways in India?

Voted for Kerala of course. I don't think there is a contest. It's Kerala hands down. Let that be the super narrow national highways, two line madness throughout, toll roads with traffic signals in every 2 minutes interval, bus drivers from circuses (same with some bikers too), pot hole ridden roads from the first week of monsoon till December. Roads in Kerala rocks in every bad way possible.

Oh yeah. I addition to these, there are speed cameras and MVD and Police checking all over to find out if you have modified your car. Well a sticker job will invite you a hefty fine. Once I got a speed ticket for doing 42km on a 30 zone. Surprisingly that was on a national highway with 4 lanes.

I don't think driving at night is a wise decision as it used to invite more trouble especially on unknown roads. I read somewhere that Cherthala to Trivandrum stretch is one of the most dangerous roads in India. Must be true I reckon.

The only properly motorable road in Kerala is from Walayar to Kuthiran.

Instead of getting the roads better and WIDER the government is venturing into getting bullet train or something similar from Trivandrum to Kasaragod. Don't forget Kerala have 4 international airports too. I assume the roads will become more and more suffocating with traffic for the next decade also.

Kerala, bad road's own country.
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Old 17th February 2022, 19:41   #116
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Re: Which State has the worst Highways in India?

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Originally Posted by amol4184 View Post
I'm from and live in Ahmednagar and roads all around this town are just plain terrible. Have been for decades and no sign of improvement.
I too belong to the same place, maybe the horrible condition of roads is the prime reason Indian government decided to plonk the Vehicle Research and Development Establishment here! (The sole authority which approves all road vehicles as ‘road legal’ prior to their launch) Cause if a car survives here, it can survive anywhere in the country.
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Old 17th February 2022, 19:46   #117
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Re: Which State has the worst Highways in India?

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Originally Posted by vivekkp View Post
Its Kerala, land of my birth place. The road surface quality is good but very narrow and winding roads. You never feel like you are out in the open. It feels like just one big urban landscape and hence cannot maintain good speed for long duration.

p.s: I find the traffic discipline in Kerala is way better compared to other states that i have driven in.
As a Tamilzhan whose native borders Kerala, am sorry I have to vehemently disagree on both counts.

Driving to Munnar from Theni for instance is ultra smooth till you cross Bodimetu. I can cover 60 kms in around 1.15 hrs. That includes 20 kms of ghats.

Bodimetu to Munnar is only30 kms but takes me easily 1.5-2 hrs as the road surface is like the moons, full of craters and driving conditions abysmal.

The bus drivers and also yellow board cars with the occasional white board ricer think road rules are mere suggestions and drive like maniacs.

In terms of Highway road discipline I think Karnataka is pretty good. AP, Kerala are bad, TN is in between.
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Old 17th February 2022, 19:52   #118
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Re: Which State has the worst Highways in India?

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Originally Posted by moralfibre View Post
There is a localisation and recency effect showing up on the poll results.

a) Most of team-bhpians are from KA. Mainly based out of Bangalore.

b) I don't think the poll results depict the actual state of highways.

Lastly, there needs to be a clarification in the poll. Highways are classified into: National Highways and State highways. The former is run by central agencies and the latter by state. I have driven extensively in KA, MH and Goa. This includes a very strong mix of national as well as state highways and KA >> MH. Far far ahead. There is a saying in Maharashtra bhpians circles, the moment you cross the state border, you realise that what we get are not highways or roads that are half as good as any other.

Related thread. (The Nightmare called Pune - Satara - Karad - Kolhapur Highway)

That said, Kerala looks to be winning this race of worst highways.
Totally agree with you. The Bangalore junta seems to have skewed this one.
Voted for Maharashtra. Judged on the Quality of the road and not on time / speed factor.
To clarify, I have driven extensively in Orissa, Telengana, Andhra Pradesh, TN, Karnataka, Kerala (Till Wayanad), Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Delhi-NCR and Rajasthan.
By far, the quality of roads in Maharashtra is a joke.

Last edited by KungFuPanda : 17th February 2022 at 19:53. Reason: Missed a point
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Old 17th February 2022, 19:57   #119
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Re: Which State has the worst Highways in India?

Can't agree more. Just voted for my own state Kerala!! The only 4/6 lane highway system in India where you will see traffic lights every 5 kms and speed cams as revenue stream for govt coffers. I paid 5 challans in last two years for marginal and non existent speed violations. Did you know that you are supposed to drive only at 60km/h in "bypass highways"! I paid 2500/- to learn that

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Originally Posted by Gannu_1 View Post


Expect us mallus to vote in unison! No two thoughts about this. Our state has unarguably the worst roads in the country with no scope for improvement in the immediate future. As a poster above rightly said, 30-35 kmph is the best average you could eke out even on the 4/6 laned roads thanks to the combination of the traffic, speed cams and the absence of flyovers at junctions.

I had it when we drove from Palakkad to Trivandrum via Alleppey after picking up a friend from Cochin to attend a friend’s wedding. God, I just remembering crashing that night! Vowed to never drive to Trivandrum again.
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Old 17th February 2022, 20:04   #120
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Re: Which State has the worst Highways in India?

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Originally Posted by desertknight73 View Post
I too belong to the same place, maybe the horrible condition of roads is the prime reason Indian government decided to plonk the Vehicle Research and Development Establishment here! (The sole authority which approves all road vehicles as ‘road legal’ prior to their launch) Cause if a car survives here, it can survive anywhere in the country.
Half of the testing is done BEFORE the test vehicles reach gates of VRDE

P.S> Wow, its rarity finding someone from here on tbhp. The count is up to whopping 3 people now!
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