[amit0rana]

Thank You so much. I am taking this route on 18th for the first time (coming from Bangalore).

I find these updates so useful and sometimes very difficult to find that I have decided to create a mobile app around this As this app will depend on crowd sourced info I will keep it open source.
Check it out: https://github.com/TechJini/RouteCondition

More on this once I am back from my trip

[amit0rana]

I did this route on 16th Nov, confirming what @1100D experienced.

1. Good roads end to end except for the following 4 places.
Stretch 1: Map: http://bit.ly/2h9nJuN
Stretch 2: Map: http://bit.ly/2h9sRPu
Stretch 3: Map: http://bit.ly/2h9vn8h
Stretch 4: Either of the one circle, there was a bridge, I forgot exactly which one, mostly the one on the hoogly river. Map: http://bit.ly/2h9urRu

2. Map: http://bit.ly/2h9lJCy
This is a narrow road but very good quality (except for above) and very very scenic. Only drawback is every 4-wheeler was driving as if it is a rally race so be careful. I was on a bike and really enjoyed this stretch.

3. Crossing Malda was hell. Roughly from Sultanganj to old Malda. Roads are nice but traffic is terrible. Thats the only stretch where I found traffic.

Feel free to PM me for any other information.

[rahul4640]

Originally Posted by 1100D

The good news is, Panchgram-More-gram stretch on SH7 is now resurfaced and wide! So no real need to take the detour through Panchgram-Nabagram route to merge into the NH34.

I am not sure if you are allowed to drive straight to reach Moregram. At least, what I saw was that all vehicles were allowed to drive straight but they had to compulsorily take a left turn towards Nalhati. This stretch was totally closed from both ends. The only option was either to take a diversion via Palsanda or to take some other village road to join NH-34. As from yhe locals, a bridge was damaged somewhere here some four days ago.

[1100D]

Originally Posted by rahul4640

This stretch was totally closed from both ends.

Thats the Nalhati-Moregram road. So I guess the same fate awaits anyone who takes the Siuri-Rampurhat-Moregram route.

In Mid-November, this was clear.

[manipuriguy]

First of all,
Greetings to all BHPians. Being probably the latest entry to Team BHP, it's great to be a part of this elite motorheads group which I have been following for many years now like EkLavya did and benefitting from all the travelogues and advices in the forum. My thumbs Up for the great work.
I am planning to drive from Allahabad to Imphal next month via Kolkata- siliguri- dimapur. My main worry was driving through north Bihar with wife and kids so I decided to drop them off at Kolkata and let them fly off to Imphal. Two birds with one stone. So now after researching all the threads, firstly, I am thoroughly confused about whether to take SH-7 and NH-34 or dumka- bhagalpur- islampur-siliguri for driving from dumdum to siliguri stretch. Secondly, I would also request if anyone can clarify route from siliguri to assam border in a little detail. Thirdly, has anyone driven on the shortcut from Nagaon to Dimapur via Diphu and is it safe from terrorists and dacoits now or is it better to stick to tried and trusted Numaligarh turn to dimapur??Your valued advice is solicited. thank you all.

[gmhossain]

Hello manipuriguy! Welcome to Team-BHP.

Originally Posted by manipuriguy

I am planning to drive from Allahabad to Imphal next month via Kolkata- siliguri- dimapur. ... So now after researching all the threads, firstly, I am thoroughly confused about whether to take SH-7 and NH-34 or dumka- bhagalpur- islampur-siliguri for driving from dumdum to siliguri stretch. ...

Given the road conditions, currently the fastest as well as the most recommended route to Siliguri from Kolkata is the following:

Kolkata - NH-2 (new NH-19) - Burdwan - SH-7 - Morgram - NH-34 (new NH-12) - Botolbari - (aka Bengal-to-Bengal Road) - Rudel - Dhantola - NH-31 (new NH-27) - Siliguri

There are few kms of bad roads along SH-7 but the rest are fine.

Best,

[manipuriguy]

I finally am back from my road trip from Allahabad to Imphal. It was awesome but the return leg is still left for June 17..another adventure to look forward to!
I drove my Safari Storme and it proved its worth, every inch and minute of the way.
From Allahabad to Kolkata, the route was mostly good but very crowded and full of diversions from Dhanbad onwards till Burdwan. Sher Shah Suris Fort at Sasaram was a great place to halt and see but the locals gawked at us maybe because they had never seen outsiders.... part of life! Nothing adventurous except lifting up and throwing out road blocks like barrels and barricades to avoid getting stuck in horrid jams of trucks and following service lanes to avoid numerous traffic jams along bridges and toll booths.
From Kolkata to Siliguri, google misled me!! We started at 1 PM and Instead of the Burdwan road as advised by BHPian gmhossain, I ended up driving straight on SH7, by blindly following google...thin, crowded but interesting road. My co driver buddy who is quite a history buff showed me all the lovely terracotta Forts along the route in Murshidabad. The route was quite scenic but road condition was poor and generally single lane throughout. If we had started early, we might have been able to enjoy all the scenic river and water bodies on the way! Dalkhola was a nightmare. As it was night, I completely missed the diversion which would have helped me avoid Dalkhola despite the diversion being mentioned in a post some time back along with pics! No regrets! Negotiating through trucks in Dalkhola was fun, like a video game! From there, SH 31 was smooth and good but boring all the way to Siliguri. Drive time of 14 hours with many sight seeing breaks! We reached Siliguri by 3 AM and enjoyed the hospitality of kind relatives again.
The next day, we started after lunch around 3 PM and drove through lovely tea gardens and reached Nalbari by 9 PM and halted the night at a friends place. Assam roads were like silk compared to West Bengal. My friend could not stop remarking at the cleanliness of the state.
The last day began early at 5 AM. we zoomed over the Brhamaputra as the sun rose and whizzed by Guwahati. The road from Guwahati till the diversion to Shillong is the border between Assam and Meghalaya and is interesting because on the Assam side of the road, there are only food stalls whereas on the Meghalaya side, there are hundreds of Liquor shops as Assam is a dry state and Meghalaya is "wet"!! We crossed Nagaon at 8 AM. Kaziranga blessed us with sightings of rhinoceros, elephants and other wildlife grazing next to the road!! My friend went berserk with his camera. After Nagaon, the road was under construction and we slowed down a bit till we crossed into Numaligarh. Thereafter, the Karbi Along stretch was horrible and neglected. We reached Dimapur in Nagaland by 12 noon. We drove up to Kohima by 2 PM and enjoyed the beautiful Commonwealth War Cemetry at Kohima till 3 PM. Here, the famous inscription is written-"When you go home, tell them of us and say, For your tomorrow, we gave our today...".
The worst road along this trip was from Dimapur till Imphal..No four lane comfort...no design...pure and simple old school hill driving with no excuses and no scope for the faint of heart...Finally reached our destination, that is, my home at Imphal by 8 PM and promptly hit the bed...As an after thought, 15 people died on the Dimapur Imphal road in a single bus accident hardly a week after my trip...RIP... I guess,for drivers, the real challenging drives are in the underdeveloped areas!!
Photographs follow...

[manipuriguy]

A few snaps of the road trip from Allahabad to Imphal from 05 to 08 march 2017..
1. View of old Double decker Ganga Bridge near Benares.
2. View of Sher Shah Suris Tomb at Sasaram, Bihar.
3. Better stretch of rural Bengal roads.
4. My ride.
5.Murshidabad terracotta Fort.
6. Sevoke Bridge Siliguri.
7. Kaziranga elephants
8. Kohima war cemetry.

[gmhossain]

Originally Posted by manipuriguy

I finally am back from my road trip from Allahabad to Imphal. It was awesome... Photographs follow...

It's wonderful to hear you back! It must have been an epic drive to reach Imphal by road from Allahabad. I would suggest you to write a proper travelogue for this journey. I haven't seen any such travelogue here.

Thanks,

[rahul4640]

Hi,
I am planning to go to Darjeeling next week. Any suggestion gentlemen what route shall I choose to reach Moregram? Shall I take to Panagarh-Moregram route or shall I take the usual Bardhaman-Moregram route? A person I know says that Panagarh-Moregram route, though is longer, is in much better shape. Any suggestion from anyone please?
Regards,
Rahul

[Sheel]

What should the ideal road be from Calcutta [Tollygunj] to Purnia in mid-May in an i20 Active.
TIA

[rahul4640]

Originally Posted by Sheel

What should the ideal road be from Calcutta [Tollygunj] to Purnia in mid-May in an i20 Active.

A quick google search is showing the road via Dumka & Bhagalpur. Just inquisitive, have you ever been into this stretch recently? Any idea if the Handiha-Bhagalpur section repaired satisfactorily now?

[BlackPearl]

Originally Posted by Sheel

What should the ideal road be from Calcutta [Tollygunj] to Purnia in mid-May in an i20 Active.
TIA

My data is around 8 months old. I would suggest Kolkata-Bardhaman-Suri-Massanjore-Dumka-Deoghar-Purnia route. I am not sure if Dumka Bhagalpur stretch has been repaired or not. Last time it was horrible.

[Sheel]

Originally Posted by rahul4640

Just inquisitive, have you ever been into this stretch recently? Any idea if the Handiha-Bhagalpur section repaired satisfactorily now?

Originally Posted by BlackPearl

My data is around 8 months old. I would suggest Kolkata-Bardhaman-Suri-Massanjore-Dumka-Deoghar-Purnia route. I am not sure if Dumka Bhagalpur stretch has been repaired or not. Last time it was horrible.

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/test-d...ml#post4173904

I did this on 30th March. But I will have to find out about Dumka to Hansdiha route, but gut feeling says, it will be bad. What about Maldah route and via Krishnanagar or something else?

[gmhossain]

Originally Posted by Sheel

... What about Maldah route and via Krishnanagar or something else?

I did a return trip up to Malda via Krishnanagar (between Apr 14-17). The surface is mostly pretty good but the traffic is high as usual. One of my concern would be about crossing Dalkhola on this route to reach Purnia.

There are few more details on this post

Best,