[gmhossain]

Krishnanagar - Baharampur section:

This update is mainly for those who take full NH-34 (new NH-12) via Krishnanagar and Baharampur. The toll operation for this 77 km long highway section could begin soon, may be just after the election as more than 80% works are now completed. The toll rates are yet to be notified. We drove through the stretch on Mar 20 and 24, 2019.

Besides some minor diversions, 4-laning works are mostly completed except for the following stretches:

Debagram: ~ 2 Km
Beldanga: ~ 6 km
Bhabta rail gate: ~ 1.5 km

This section begins from the outskirt of Krishnanagar town



The road signage board



A time lapse video of the upgraded Krishnanagar - Baharampur section

www.youtube.com/watch?v=5jsN3SbGxPo

[Sheel]

As per reports, traffic has eased out in the Vikramsila Setu section. But, I repeat, till Bhagalpur doesn't have a functional bypass, while coming from Kolkata and while going to Kolkata, try to tackle Bhagalpur during the day time or at-least after 8 am [post no entry starts]. Try to cross Bhagalpur before 4 PM and you should be good.

[gmhossain]

Originally Posted by Sheel

As per reports, traffic has eased out in the Vikramsila Setu section.

Thanks for the update Sheel!

After the comprehensive repair, Farakka barrage road is now opened to 2-way traffic including heavy vehicles since yesterday. I guess, in a few days, the long truck queues from both sides of the Farakka barrage should ease up!

[subhojitb]

Originally Posted by gmhossain

Krishnanagar - Baharampur section:

Besides some minor diversions, 4-laning works are mostly completed except for the following stretches:

Debagram: ~ 2 Km
Beldanga: ~ 6 km
Bhabta rail gate: ~ 1.5 km

Thanks for the important update Golam. Considering majority portions from Krishnanagar till Baharampore is now 4-laned, does it make sense to choose this option while travelling from Kolkata than the Burdwan - SH7 - Moregram option?

[gmhossain]

Originally Posted by subhojitb

Considering majority portions from Krishnanagar till Baharampore is now 4-laned, does it make sense to choose this option while travelling from Kolkata than the Burdwan - SH7 - Moregram option?

They are getting closer now! Unless you time it well, I would say, SH-7 still has an edge, as crossing Baharampur town is bit more uncertain than crossing Burdwan town. Besides, on the 2-laned stretches NH-12 has much more traffic than SH-7.

As of now, Airport Gate No. 3 to Morgram ROB:

Distance via NH-12: 218 km (100 km 4-laned, 118 km 2-laned)
Distance via SH-7 : 227 km ( 96 km 4-laned, 131 km 2-laned)

I did notice some amount of new work has been done on Baharampur bypass, compared to what I saw few months ago. However, it's unlikely to become operational before next year. Besides, the 4-laning work on Barasat-Krishnanagar section is fully stopped now. So the current situation is unlikely to change anytime soon.

[starter]

Dear Friends,
I am starting my road trip from Bangalore to Arunachal on 19th April.
I shall be starting from Calcutta on 22nd April early morning towards Siliguri.
Which route would you suggest i take?

Bardhaman-Khargram-Morgram-Farakka-Malda-Itahar-Raiganj-Siliguri
OR
Is there an alternate route like taking NH12 till berhampore and then join morgram and follow the rest of the route as above?

Thanks a lot for this information.
Cheers,
Deepak

[BlackPearl]

Originally Posted by starter

Dear Friends,
I am starting my road trip from Bangalore to Arunachal on 19th April.
I shall be starting from Calcutta on 22nd April early morning towards Siliguri.
Which route would you suggest i take?

Bardhaman-Khargram-Morgram-Farakka-Malda-Itahar-Raiganj-Siliguri
OR
Is there an alternate route like taking NH12 till berhampore and then join morgram and follow the rest of the route as above?

Thanks a lot for this information.
Cheers,
Deepak

Take the Bardhaman Moregram route via SH12 as shown by Google map. Just remember to take a right turn at Panchgram and then a left turn at Nabagram towards Moregram as shown in the screenshot below.



Also please take the Malda bypass as it will save a lot of time if you plan to cross Malda during the day.

[starter]

Thanks a lot Blackpearl. Will keep this in mind and follow the same.
I shall update the thread of my experience.

[Samratrek]

Dear BHPians
While travelling in Siliguri in a hired cab, I caught up some conversation with the driver, he was saying that now the Dalkhola flyover is ready, no need to take the Dhantola-Botolbari route.
Is it correct,any updates on this..friends...
Regards
Samrat

[hothatchaway]

Originally Posted by Samratrek

Dear BHPians
While travelling in Siliguri in a hired cab, I caught up some conversation with the driver, he was saying that now the Dalkhola flyover is ready, no need to take the Dhantola-Botolbari route.
Is it correct,any updates on this..friends...
Regards
Samrat

Saw nothing of the sort when I drove through Dalkhola last month. Passed the junction at around 3AM so it was empty.

[DrRC83]

Originally Posted by Samratrek

Dear BHPians
While travelling in Siliguri in a hired cab, I caught up some conversation with the driver, he was saying that now the Dalkhola flyover is ready, no need to take the Dhantola-Botolbari route.

Samrat

In plain words, the bypass is not ready yet. Though one may try this route after considering,

- The approach is still a fair weather road, though concretization is going on.
- The surface is also not very smooth either, low GC cars may scrap their
underbellies.
- Botolbari to Islampur, Bengal to Bengal road is better till date. You may try
to meet NH near Islampur market, rather than Dhontola to avoid the bad
patch.

I hope the Bypass will be readily doable within 3 to 4 months.

[SamitMukherjee]

My first Mini-Travelogue-
1st May, being holiday, me and my friend went on a small leisure road trip to SH-7 (till Khargram) from Durgapur and came back after having lunch at AHD.
Total distance covered- 412 km.
We encountered huge traffic at Burdwan town near railway station, there is a fly-over under construction and the complete area was choked. We also faced a few diversions. We were so busy navigating ourselves, we forgot to take pictures of the area while going. Although while returning we took few pictures.
Barring this part, SH-7 was a delight to drive and the beautiful countryside was a treat to our eyes.
Traffic was a bit higher than normal, may be due to ongoing elections as we came across many Army convoys and election-duty vehicles.

As all pictures were taken from mobile, kindly excuse the picture quality.

Under Construction fly-over at Burdwan



Traffic/Diversions at Burdwan towards SH-7



Taking break



Beauty of Rural Bengal





The Gang

[DrRC83]

After joining this family last month, waiting for a chance to put up my two cents to this Kolkata Siliguri route thread as I am a regular traveler of this route since 2002. Just then ‘Uparwala’ listen to my desire and voila, just returned from Raiganj-Kolkata-Raiganj, a 3-day office trip from 01/05/2019 to 04/05/2019.

Started from Raiganj at 10:15 in the morning. Raiganj to Malda 4 lane road was good but after the opening of both lanes of Farakka traffic has been increased significantly. This road was a breeze couple of months ago but now it is flooded with Trucks.

Malda Bypass construction works are still going on though it could be done by any hatchback now. This route is highly recommended especially during day and evening time to avoid the Malda traffic. Four-lane construction work of Sujapur area is still on, so be cautious at the Diversions and from rake less ‘Toto’s and Autos. Finally, our Scorpio crossed the Farakka barrage at 12:07 PM.

From Farakka to Krishnanagar Four lane works has been almost done and the road was very good except single lane roads at Bhabta, Beldanga, and Debagram as mentioned by Golam ji earlier in his valuable post. We had our lunch at Saluja Hotel at Palsanda before Baharampur and reached Krishnanagar at 4:10 PM.

After having some little tea and snacks at Krishnanagar we precede for Kolkata through good but narrower Badkulla – Taherpur – Birnagar road to Ranghat and thereafter through NH – 12 up to Barajaguli. Ranaghat to Jagulia, 27 km stretch is a very congested single lane road which literally drained out most of our energy with its bumper to bumper traffic. A Right turn at Barajaguli Chowrasta leads straight to the Kalyani Expressway and we reached Airport 1 no. gate at 6:35 PM.

Total Distance Covered: 397 km
Driving time: 7 hrs 30 min
Remarks: Day time and evening time congestion was present.

During the return journey, we initially planned for a daytime journey through the same route. But the timing of the cyclone ‘Fani’ stormed up our plan. We left Airport 1 no. gate at 8:45 PM and took left for the Belghoria Expressway and reached Burdwan via Dankuni through NH 19 at 9:35 PM. This four-lane road was always my favorite but nowadays the trap cameras flashed out the fun part a bit.

Burdwan to Umarpur took exactly 2 hours and 25 minutes through SH 7. This smooth drive became smoother when we reached the Nakpur end of the SH-7 and headed for Morgram. This 2 km stretch is now repaired at least to a drivable condition. Look for a linear crater across the road before Morgram. After this single lane driving, on NH-12 Morgram to Umarpur though brings the four-laned joy in your heart, but please, don’t fly over it. Medium to large sized craters, potholes, and waves are the sugar lined knives on the way for your car along with your lives. So, be cautious.

We hit the road from Ahar Dhaba of Umarpur at 12:40 AM and reached Raiganj at 3:35 AM. We took a small tea break at Malda Rathbari more and carried on.

Total Distance Covered: 400 km
Driving time: 6 hrs 10 min
Remarks: Night time with a few vehicles were present due to cyclone alert.

PS – No photo to give as Golam ji and SamitMukherji already posted them beautifully.

[gmhossain]

Originally Posted by DrRC83

... Malda Bypass construction works are still going on... Four-lane construction work of Sujapur area is still on ...

Thanks for the update. I am curious to know whether you saw any "on-going work" with both man-and-machine are in-action (rather than the machines lying idle without anyone around) in both Malda bypass and Kaliachak-Sujapur stretches?

I am asking it for a reason. In both these stretches, the widening working works were stalled due to the fund crunch of HCC. Few months ago, HCC sold off the entire Farakka-Raiganj section to a new company, Cube Highways. So I am wondering whether the new management has already taken over the highway on-the-ground and resumed the widening work?

[DrRC83]

Originally Posted by gmhossain

Thanks for the update. I am curious to know whether you saw any "on-going work" with both man-and-machine are in-action (rather than the machines lying idle without anyone around) in both Malda bypass and Kaliachak-Sujapur stretches?

I am asking it for a reason. In both these stretches, the widening working works were stalled due to the fund crunch of HCC. Few months ago, HCC sold off the entire Farakka-Raiganj section to a new company, Cube Highways. So I am wondering whether the new management has already taken over the highway on-the-ground and resumed the widening work?

You have a keen observation Golam ji. During this trip, I did not see anyone working on the bypass or Sujapur. But in the first week of April while returning from my relatives in Malda there was some earth filling works going on at the Malda Bypass.

I used to take a left turn just before the flyover on Malda-Pakuahat-Nalagola road after crossing the Sahapur Bridge of Malda. But on that day I had to return back to take the road near Malda court station for the Bypass as there was some earth filling work going on and that particular connecting road just before the flyover was blocked.

I thought that the work had been resumed but, during the last trip no one was seen working and my initial thought was it may be paused for the Election MCC.