Hi All,
I came back to Bangalore today from Mangalore after a two day visit. And here is the latest update on the road condition.
I had booked in Durgamba Motors sleeper coach bus from Bangalore. It left Bangalore at 10.30 PM.
The first stretch between Bangalore city and Nelamangala came as a surprise to me. The road was very clear in and around Jalahalli , Dasarahalli, 8th Mile stretch. Even at the check post road was quite clear. The bus reached Nelmangala at 11.15 PM. This is despite all the road work happening in this stretch. This stretch has a bit improved.
So i think anyone leaving out of Bangalore can go through the main road itself, there is no need to try out other alternative routes.
One more surprise, the 4 lane road work has picked up between Nelmangala and Kunigal. This stretch has become pretty rough. In many paces the roads are uneven. Be cautious in this stretch. In some places the roads become narrow.
Kunigal to Chenrayapatna is also not that smooth compared to earlier days. My bus managed to reach Udayapura, the Kamath Hotel at around 1.30AM. I found a new KSRTC Volvo that has been put to Kundapura from Bangalore.
Chenrayapatna to Hassan is pretty OK. My bus was just flying and i got a good sleep for a while. Hassan By-pass road stretch is bad as usual. The bus was dancing side to side.
Hassan - Sakleshpur stretch patch work has been completed. Something better than nothing. The road seemed to be OK and my bus was doing some good seed again.
Then comes the Shiradi ghat from Sakleshpur to Nelyadi. One word to say. "Horrible". Though in some places i saw patch work was done. 90% of the road is still in a pathetic shape.
I didn't even get 5 mins of sleep. My bus was coming down the ghat as if it was in a express way. It managed to over take 2 Volvo buses which were struggling to come down.
Another competition between a KSRTC sarige bus and my bus for sometime almost had a experience of a roller coaster ride. I thought if there was a cross country race for buses in the world. Our Indian driver's would win all the first three prizes.
By 4.30 AM it was in Nelyadi and again a tea break of 15 mins. Still the Volvo buses had not come down the ghat. They in fact left Kamath hotel before us.
Nelyadi - Uppinangadi - BC road. Almsot 80% patch work is done, stretch is a bit ok compared to earlier days. BC road - Mangalore - 40% work is completed. But the reaming 60% is just horrible.
And Guess what i reached Mangalore by 6.00AM. That's just in 7.30 Hrs to Mangalore with 30 + 15 mins break.
Overall: I think National Highway 48 needs to be renamed as Village Highway 48.
While coming i took the VRL Volvo. Bus was good. But roads were the same. It was pretty fast but it could not go like Ashok Leyaland in the bad stretch. It left at 10.30PM and reached Bangalore by 6.45 AM Almost 45 mins more than the normal Ashok Leyalnd bus to cover the same distance.
I can say god bless the Bus drivers who still struggle daily in such road condition. I feel the Government must make a resolution that politicians and authorities concerned should travel only by road in a normal bus. Only then these guys would realize our pain.
Photos and other updates in my next post. |