[Meer]

I did the pune nagpur route yesterday, typing from my mobile so pardon the text and formatting -

As per suggestions I took the jalna - Rajur - jafrabad - Chikhali - khamgaon - Amravati and that was a great decision! There are no potholes on this route though the road is not excellent but it is good.

Started at 5.20 am from west pune, reached Nagpur at 6.30 pm and had 3 stops on the way for 1 and a half hours. Gone are the days when you could do this route in 10 hours!

Below are the quick recollections of each sections of the changed route

Jalna to Rajur (you take a right turn at Rajur) is average road, traffic slows you down though

After Rajur there is lovely cement road till almost Tembhurni (where you take a left turn)

The road from here till jafrabad is heavily patched but no potholes.

Jafrabad chikhali Road is decent

There is lot of Road work in chikhali but less traffic and you don't get stuck

Chikhali khamgaon Road cement and awesome, best road of the route

Khamgaon to Akola Road is decent but lot of truck traffic. The only decent restaurant of this route was on this road, called Charger restaurant. We had lunch there.

Be careful on Akola bypass as the road has lot of undulations and soft suspensions will bottom out at speed.

From Akola bypass to Amravati, the road gets progressively better!

[sumalkar]

Just an update - drove from Pune to Kanha (MP) via Nagpur and following was the route taken and the road conditions.

Started from Pune around 10pm on 24th and reached Shegaon around 7am on 25th.

Route taken - Pune - Aurangabad - Jalna - Deolgaonraja - Chikhli - Khamgaon - Shegaon.
Pune to Jalna - 4 lane good condition
Jalna to Chikhli - 2/4 lane - work in progress but still good and recommended if anyone intends to travel via this route
Chikhli to Khamgaon to Shegaon - cement road, good condition

Started from Shegaon around 4pm on 25th and reached Nagpur around 10pm the same day.
Route taken - Shegaon - Balapur - Murtizapur - Amravati - Nagpur
Shegaon to Balapur - very less distance but excellent road
Balapur to Amravati - work in progress for 4 lane road, only single side operational, moderate traffic but you can still do 60-80+ kmph
Amravati to Nagpur - 4 lane, excellent road

Started from Nagpur around 6am on 26th and reached Kanha around noon the same day.
Route taken - Nagpur - Mansar - Seoni - Kanha
Nagpur to Seoni - excellent road though work in progress at few places
Seoni onwards - single but good road with very less traffic, you can do 80+ kmph

Total distance: 1044 km, guess around 50 km of over all bad patches in the entire journey.

[Meer]

Another update on this route, I returned from Nagpur to Pune using the standard Karanja - Mehkar route as I had to make a stopover at Lonar on the way back.

In a nutsell, the road is not as bad as I thought. Between Amravati bypass and Karanja, you get the best road (new cement) and bad roads (they slow you down but dont have huge potholes like I assumed earlier). The worst road is between Mehkar and Sultanpur and I suspect just after Sultanpur as well (I did not take this route as I made a detour to Lonar after Sultanpur).

All in all, its a trade off between decent roads on the Chikhali Khamgaon route with lot of truck traffic and small stretches of bad roads on the Mehkar route but with almost negligible traffic.

PS - I drove back from Nagpur to Pune on 2nd & 3rd January with a stopover in Lonar.

[vivek95]

Hello team

I am all set for a drive on a new route for the first time apart from my usual NH4 Mumbai/Pune to Karnataka and Goa drives. Having all e-passes ready, I would be driving from Mumbai to Wardha and back from 21st to 23rd of this month. We are 3 of us in my Polo and headed to Datta Meghe medical college, Wardha. We are planning to take the Pune route, so any updates on the current road conditions from Pune to Wardha ?? I know its difficult to get the latest update given the lockdown, but in case anyone has any information, kindly share. We will be departing at 5 a.m from Vashi, Navi Mumbai.

[vivek95]

Originally Posted by vivek95

Hello team

I am all set for a drive on a new route for the first time apart from my usual NH4 Mumbai/Pune to Karnataka and Goa drives. Having all e-passes ready, I would be driving from Mumbai to Wardha and back from 21st to 23rd of this month. We are 3 of us in my Polo and headed to Datta Meghe medical college, Wardha. We are planning to take the Pune route, so any updates on the current road conditions from Pune to Wardha ?? I know its difficult to get the latest update given the lockdown, but in case anyone has any information, kindly share. We will be departing at 5 a.m from Vashi, Navi Mumbai.

I undertook this round trip on Mumbai to Wardha from 21st June 2020 to 22nd June 2020. I drive a VW Polo 1.2 petrol.

Onwards took the following route :- Mumbai--Expressway--Pune city (Baner--Shivajinagar--Bund garden--Nagar road)--Nagar ( through the city )--Aurangabad ( through the city)--Jalna (through the city)--Mehkar--Karanja--Pulgaon--Wardha. Total 764 kms, started from Mulund, Mumbai at 6:15 a.m and reached Wardha at 1:15 a.m midnight, inclusive of 3.5 hours of stops in between.

On the return we mostly stuck to the bypasses, so the small tweakings :- Wardha--Pulgaon--Karanja--Mehkar--Jalna bypass--Aurangabad (through the city)--Nagar bypass--Pune bypass ( Shikrapur--Chakan--Talegaon)--Expressway--Mumbai. Total 765 kms, started at 12:50pm from Wardha and reached Mumbai at 4:00 a.m inclusive of 2 hours stop in between.

Heartening for me to share positive updates on road conditions almost all the way :-

1. Mumbai--Pune Expressway -> needless to say excellent








2. Pune--Nagar--Aurangabad -> excellent very smooth 4 lane.










Nagar city








Aurangabad city








3. Aurangabad--Jalna -> intermittent patchy and smooth 4 lanes, but no complaints.








4. Jalna--Sindhkhed Raja--Sultanpur--Mehkar--Dongaon -> excellent 2 lane supersmooth road. Only Sultanpur to Mehkar that small part was under repairs and Mehkar bypass is becoming all concrete. No complaints.













5. Mehkar--Karanja -> smooth 2 lane road, in between there are some patchy sectors but largely smooth.





6. Karanja--Pulgaon -> alternating smooth and rough roads. Not ridden with deep potholes though. ( Did not take pics here )

7. Pulgaon--Wardha -> Smooth 2 lane roads ( pic taken next day during return )


8. Jalna bypass -- excellent 6 lane all concrete bypass nearing completion. ( No pics )



9. Nagar bypass - excellent 2 lane supersmooth bypass of 25 kms.





10. Pune bypass -- excellent 55 kms of smooth 2 lane bypass passing through industrial regions of Shikrapur--Chakan--Talegaon. ( No pics )

Overall, 95% the roads are excellent, only 5% is rough.

My Polo after a 1529 kms round trip in 2 days

[shajoshi]

Route update on 3-Sep-2020

Pune-A'Nagar (120 km) - mostly good, try to start early in morning (5 am) to avoid traffic till Koregaon Bhima. That way you can save time through Nagar as well

Nagar - Aurangabad (130 km) - Overall good, hard to maintain 80 kmph due to many potholes, especially in right lane - patch filling is underway - anybody's guess how long this will last. Traffic is lower than Pune-Nagar stretch

Aurangabad-Jalna (48 km) - Brace for traffic inside Aurangabad. Potholes that need to be watched for and navigated around. Lot of unmarked rumbler strips. Take the Jalna bypass as the town has very narrow roads.

Jalna - Sindkhed Raja - Mehkar (96 km) - Good 2 lane road, not many potholes, can maintain 80 kmph on stretches. Due to a weak bridge heavy vehicles are not allowed on this stretch which lessens need to overtake them. Best part of the journey.

Mehkar - Malegaon Jahangir - Karanja (109 km) - This is full of potholes. In some stretches it is difficult to find any remaining pavement. Low GC cars need to be very careful. Lot of trucks, trailers make progress at 40 kmph

Karanja - Amravati (85 km) - Mostly good, watch for speedbreakers and few potholes. Possible to maintain 80 kmph is stretches.

Amravati - Nagpur - (140 km) Mostly good, but need to watch for some large potholes. Can maintain 80-100 kmph in most stretches. Toll of Rs 200 with 3 tool booths to cross.

We took 13 hours of driving time. Smaller dhabas/eateries/tea shops have started opening after 2-Sep. There are no toilets available, you have to use the fields to relieve yourselves, that are plenty from Jalna till Amravati.

[nexus]

Thanks for a detailed feedback. It definitely helps. In spite of bad roads, 13 hours overall is very good I would say. Which car were you driving?

Btw, I heard that Nagar bypass has been repaired. Did you take it or drove from the city?

Originally Posted by shajoshi

Route update on 3-Sep-2020

Jalna - Sindkhed Raja - Mehkar (96 km) - Good 2 lane road, not many potholes, can maintain 80 kmph on stretches. Due to a weak bridge heavy vehicles are not allowed on this stretch which lessens need to overtake them. Best part of the journey

Is this route in better condition than Jalna - Chikhli - Akola? Hence you took this route or you wanted to take shorter route via Mehkar - Karanja - Amravati have took it?

Originally Posted by shajoshi

Route update on 3-Sep-2020
Mehkar - Malegaon Jahangir - Karanja (109 km) - This is full of potholes. In some stretches it is difficult to find any remaining pavement. Low GC cars need to be very careful. Lot of trucks, trailers make progress at 40 kmph

How is Mehkar - Malegaon route in particular? Is it better to drive Malegaon - Akola - Amravati route?

[drive.click]

Hi All,

Is there any latest update on this route? I am planning a road trip from Pune to Kanha National Park.

It would be great if there to have any inputs on taking Aurangabad - Chikhali- Akola-Amravati route vs Aurangabad - Mehkar - Karanja- Amaravati route.

I have been on this route a couple of years ago and I know that there are very few decent eateries/ restaurants on this stretch especially between Jalna- Amaravati. This is more concerning in the current Covid situation, any inputs on this would also help a lot. If there are not many options then probably we will have to plan for lunch only at Amravati.

Thank you.

[abhi_tjet]

I am planning to drive home(Raipur) for Diwali. Date decided is 31th October.
As per update from @shajoshi, roads looks more or less ok during September. Since its rained heavily in last couple of month, any updates for October?

Route followed will be usual -
Pune - Nagar - Aurangabad - Jalna -Mehkar - Karanja - kamargaon - Amravati - Nagpur - Raipur.

I am looking for a single day run mostly due to Corona. Last I did this stretch in single day was in October 2017.

[ksameer1234]

Originally Posted by abhi_tjet

Route followed will be usual -
Pune - Nagar - Aurangabad - Jalna -Mehkar - Karanja - kamargaon - Amravati - Nagpur - Raipur.

I did this route couple of weeks ago (Mumbai-Pune-Aurangabad-Bhilai). I estimate you would need minimum 18 hrs (I took 12 hrs for Aurangabad-Bhilai with only fuel stops).

Pune-Nagar : No problem here.
Nagar-Aurangabad: Watch out for potholes which turn up unannounced.
Aurangabad - Jalna: Supposed to be good four-lane but surface has deteriorated due to no maintenance.
Jalna -Mehkar-Dongaon: Okay road but truck traffic can be frustrating due to limited overtaking opportunity.
Dongaon- Karanja: Absolute minefield. I spent a lot of time navigating craters in 1st or 2nd gear.
Karanja - kamargaon - Amravati: 80% of this road is fresh concrete 2-lane road. Total joy.
Amravati - Nagpur - Raipur: No surprises, go straight through Nagpur city since almost all metro work blocking the roads is complete now. There is some ongoing flyover work after Bhandara but nothing much of an issue.

Tip: This Reliance petrol pump is just after crossing state border, in case you want cheaper petrol (https://goo.gl/maps/okyeJkXvqeWprD9K9).

Originally Posted by drive.click

I have been on this route a couple of years ago and I know that there are very few decent eateries/ restaurants on this stretch especially between Jalna- Amaravati. This is more concerning in the current Covid situation, any inputs on this would also help a lot. If there are not many options then probably we will have to plan for lunch only at Amravati.

There's nothing between Jalna-Amravati except couple of restaurants just after Mehkar. This one had quite a bit of crowd (many cars) so I guess it is popular. (https://goo.gl/maps/JuaRXqJY6xM3Q5mv7)

Originally Posted by nexus

Is this route in better condition than Jalna - Chikhli - Akola? Hence you took this route or you wanted to take shorter route via Mehkar - Karanja - Amravati have took it? How is Mehkar - Malegaon route in particular? Is it better to drive Malegaon - Akola - Amravati route?

Not sure about Chikhli-Akola route but Malegaon-Akola route is terrible. It is marked as NH but condition is worse than village road. Also, Akola-Amravati is just a narrow single-carriageway. Only option here is to follow long queue of trailers.

[drive.click]

Originally Posted by ksameer1234

Pune-Nagar : No problem here.
Nagar-Aurangabad: Watch out for potholes which turn up unannounced.
Aurangabad - Jalna: Supposed to be good four-lane but surface has deteriorated due to no maintenance.
Jalna -Mehkar-Dongaon: Okay road but truck traffic can be frustrating due to limited overtaking opportunity.
Dongaon- Karanja: Absolute minefield. I spent a lot of time navigating craters in 1st or 2nd gear.
Karanja - kamargaon - Amravati: 80% of this road is fresh concrete 2-lane road. Total joy.
Amravati - Nagpur - Raipur: No surprises, go straight through Nagpur city since almost all metro work blocking the roads is complete now. There is some ongoing flyover work after Bhandara but nothing much of an issue.

There's nothing between Jalna-Amravati except couple of restaurants just after Mehkar. This one had quite a bit of crowd (many cars) so I guess it is popular. (https://goo.gl/maps/JuaRXqJY6xM3Q5mv7)

Thank you ksameer1234. Helps a lot for planning.

Some additional update from me as I did a Pune-Aurangabad-Pune over the weekend. Despite starting at 6.30 AM we faced a lot of traffic coming out of Pune. If one wants to beat Pune traffic (Traffic up to Shikrapur is usual). Due to this traffic even if road is smooth your speed is restricted. Add vehicles coming from wrong side to it, one has to be careful.

From Nagar onwards the traffic is less but the road has deteriorated further. It was never very smooth but now there are many surface undulations. One of the tolls have been removed on this stretch may be as performance penalty to the operator looking at the bad road.

I will be taking same route in mid November to go to Kanha National Park and Bhedaghat. I will post an update post travel.

[tp_dominator]

My parents drove down last week from Bilaspur(C.G.) and they took both the routes.

While coming from Bilaspur, Bilaspur-Nagpur-Amravati-Akola-Khamgaon-Chikhli-Jalna-Aurangabad-Pune - they halted at Amravati for the night and started off early in the morning. The route is mostly good with few bad patches in between where smooth roads abruptly end in nightmarish bad roads for couple of hundred meters at a stretch. Amravati-Akola was navigated in the morning, so did not encounter heavy truck traffic. Total time taken with stops in between from Amravati to Pune via this route ~14.5 hours including fuel and food stops.

While returning, upon advice from cabbies and few friends, they took the Pune-Aurangabad-Jalna-Mehkar-Karanja-Amravati route. The road from Jalna till Mehkar is mostly good. Only the stretch between Mehkar-Karanja was very bad which they already knew. The progress was very slow and roads were almost non existent on this stretch. Still, they reached Amravati in just a little under 12 hours including fuel and food stops. So, while this patch has some bad roads, it definitely takes lesser time than the other route.

The car was a 2020 Honda City ZX MT and it did not scrape its underbelly anywhere. One just needs to be careful. I am also driving down to Bilaspur next week and will be using this Mehkar-Karanja route only.

[shajoshi]

Originally Posted by nexus

Thanks for a detailed feedback. It definitely helps. In spite of bad roads, 13 hours overall is very good I would say. Which car were you driving?

Maruti Vitara Brezza

[AkshatR]

Originally Posted by tp_dominator

My parents drove down last week from Bilaspur(C.G.) and they took both the routes.

While coming from Bilaspur, Bilaspur-Nagpur-Amravati-Akola-Khamgaon-Chikhli-Jalna-Aurangabad-Pune - they halted at Amravati for the night and started off early in the morning. The route is mostly good with few bad patches in between where smooth roads abruptly end in nightmarish bad roads for couple of hundred meters at a stretch. Amravati-Akola was navigated in the morning, so did not encounter heavy truck traffic. Total time taken with stops in between from Amravati to Pune via this route ~14.5 hours including fuel and food stops.

While returning, upon advice from cabbies and few friends, they took the Pune-Aurangabad-Jalna-Mehkar-Karanja-Amravati route. The road from Jalna till Mehkar is mostly good. Only the stretch between Mehkar-Karanja was very bad which they already knew. The progress was very slow and roads were almost non existent on this stretch. Still, they reached Amravati in just a little under 12 hours including fuel and food stops. So, while this patch has some bad roads, it definitely takes lesser time than the other route.

The car was a 2020 Honda City ZX MT and it did not scrape its underbelly anywhere. One just needs to be careful. I am also driving down to Bilaspur next week and will be using this Mehkar-Karanja route only.

I am doing this route this weekend. based on the above, looks like Pune-Aurangabad-Jalna-Mehkar-Karanja-Amravati is going to be the one.

[tp_dominator]

Originally Posted by AkshatR

I am doing this route this weekend. based on the above, looks like Pune-Aurangabad-Jalna-Mehkar-Karanja-Amravati is going to be the one.

I am doing this route this weekend too. Lets maybe catchup on the road.