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5000 km road trip in my Tata Altroz iTurbo: Mumbai to Kolkata and back

3rd May 2024, 17:37 by Utkarsh Chaudhary

The speed limit for cars on the Samruddhi Mahamarg is 120 km/h and it is possible to maintain the same comfortably.

BHPian Mgdoodler recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

Blue Rocket had plans for 2023, which 2023 decided were not to come to fruition. On charts was to travel to Khar Dung La and Kanyakumari sometime between June and Sept 2023 but due to some personal circumstances all long-distance plans were abandoned. Or so we thought.

Thanks to my cousin, who was marrying the love of his life in her city in Dec 2023. Invitations were issued and the plan initially was to make a quick visit to Kolkata for a couple of days for the event itself which then turned into a week’s solo drive to Kolkata and back… and in the end, turned into a 15-day holiday with Blue Rocket travelling through 6 states and the rest of my family flew to Kolkata for wedding festivities.

As per my usual practise Blue Rocket was serviced and a checkup done 15 days before my travel and I drove it for a couple of short excursions around Mumbai.

Plan was to take the Mumbai – Nagpur – Sambhalpur – Keonjhar – Kolkata route through central India while going and return via Konark - Vishakhapatnam - Chhattisgarh - Hyderabad - Mumbai. This was my first time driving any of these routes and my first time meeting the Bay of Bengal. As with most of my long-distance drives, this was just Blue and me all the way. FYI Blue Rocket is a petrol, manual i-turbo Altroz.

Day 1- 1/12/2023 Friday

This was a day I was looking forward to the most, the opportunity to drive on the Samruddhi Mahamarg. I have already driven on the Trans Haryana and enjoyed it and was looking forward to a similar experience.

Left home at 6:45 am - much later than the planned 5:30 am, but I was ok with it as there was a mild fog and starting later allowed better visibility. Travelled across Mumbai via the SCLR and eastern express highway leaving the city behind at Thane, but not the traffic, roads were jammed due to diversions and the first couple of hours were tedious. First stop was to fill fuel at Padgha. Tank filled and the drive started towards Kasara ghat which I would be driving on for the first time and it was a good drive. Stopped for a quick breakfast at 10:30 at a restaurant after Ghoti Bhudruk at 150 kms from Mumbai and 7 kms before Bharvir entry into the Mahamarg.

The mahamarg is wide, well planned and mostly a comfortable drive. Speed Limit for cars is 120 Kmph and it is possible to maintain the same comfortably. Heavy vehicles are few and keep to the middle and left lane. It was a pleasure to drive on this route. I stopped at approximately halfway at around 3 pm for a fuel refill and bio break. I also stopped at about 1.5hrs of driving on the mahamarg for a quick photo session with Blue being the model. As you can see the weather was lovely with blue skies and fluffy white clouds – a perfect winter day for a drive and the road is practically empty.

Road surface could be better and more functional rest stops are required. Hopefully, these requirements will be fulfilled soon.

It was later in the day after 4:30 pm and as we neared Nagpur, I encountered some truck traffic in the fast/overtake lane and middle lane at the same time blocking the road. But it was not for long.

Crossed Waifal toll naka at 5:30 PM, having covered 600 kms in approx. 6 hours with a 20 min break.

Winter and travel towards the east meant that the sun set earlier and it was already dark as we exited the Expressway and made our way to the night stay – Hotel Pride near the airport metro.

Reached and checked in at 6:30 pm. Covering 814 kms in little less than 12 hours.

The day had not ended though. After a quick catch-up with work, I headed towards the nearest Haldirams at Ajni Square. Travelled by metro for 4 stops and exited just outside Haldirams. My last meal had been a protein bar along with a yoghurt smoothie at 3 pm and now I feasted on Dahi Puri and hot Rajma Chawal.

Dinner done I took the metro back to my hotel and turned in for an early night.