The thing I mentioned about going the extra 120 Km via Sambalpur, well be ditched that idea and decided we can take on these bad roads with the Fusion definitely in broad daylight if we could have managed well in the night while coming. We were absolutely right, even though the roads were extra bad, the car never really complained as such and managed gracefully. I do have photos of this section in the morning.

Size does matter. If you have a steel plant nearby, chances are you will face traffic like this. Navigating around this chap on a bad road with gradient on a foggy morning took all the skills that I had acquired over the last few years.

Barkot

This is the place where one gets to take NH6 which goes all the way from here till Kolkata via Keondjhar and Simlipal National Park. I had heard lots of stories about this road and its status or the lack of it. The fact that this is the main road connecting Mumbai to Kolkata confirms that there will be unusually high truck traffic. Assumption was not wrong, the traffic was high, but very organized and I must say that the truckers do know their road manners. The percentage of private vehicles and cabs in this section was about 0.1, which was good as there were very few surprises.

An industrial sunrise. The panorama, even though high res, cannot really describe it. The bad roads were worth it.

Keondjhar

This bit of Orissa came totally as a surprise to me. I had lived in Kharagpur as a kid and never knew that a few 100 Kms and there was this beautiful ghat and National Park. The road starts winding about 70 Kms into the journey after Barkot and you realize that you are climbing, and that too rapidly on a very busy ghat section. This was the Simplipal National Park and the road quality, as expected, started deteriorating rapidly. Until we came up to sections that were almost un-motorable in a Fusion. I think I should mention here that we did not see any other vehicles other than Sumo, Scorpio, Bolero and Max, one or two locals in Altos do brave the roads, but then again, they are not going the whole distance.

Kid selling Chai at a pit stop

There are roads, then there are bar roads, but this was insane

The scenery was beautiful, the winding roads climbing up and down were scenic. The truckers are really helpful in this section and they do signal you when to pass. Else you are just stuck in second gear behind a gigantic slow moving vehicle. Overtaking opportunities are minimal as NH6 does not have a lane divider or a median, its just got a while marking and rest is up to the skill and the vehicle.

Leaving Orissa

We were hoping for better roads ahead and at this point the road entered Jharkhand.

Our perception of “Bad Road” got redefined once again. People who complain about “Shiradi Ghats”, listen very carefully. This was a complete section of NH6 which had potholes the size of an Alto. This was by far the worst road we were on. Not to mention even the trucks with their gigantic wheel dia had difficulties navigating this. There was a way though. Got on to the muddy shoulder and pressed the pedal, the 15” wheels on the Fusion were meant for this business and we crossed the whole section of about 20 + Kms in less than 2 hours. (achievement, specially as it includes two octroi check posts.)

Bengal

Once in Bengal, we faced our first hurdle right outside Kharagpur. A bridge was being repaired and there was a 2 Km long truck line. I did not wait, since this was a area I have grown up in, I just followed the local ambi and got onto the dirt road running about 100 meters away from the highway. The Zen and WagonR behind us stayed clear, and with god reason too. Soon after I found the ambi stuck, thankfully they moved out of the way and we joined the line of trucks right about at the beginning of the line. At this point I just parked the vehicle and we took a Tea – Cake break.

Greenery greets the eye

The whole thing cleared in 1/2 hours and we were on the GQ roads once again from Kharagpur till Kolkata. We stopped for a quick evening bite, and met up with many injured getting back home from the Coromandal Express crash the earlier evening.

Kolaghat

Now we were 70 Kms away from Kolkata and we reached this “Never Been Repaired” bridge. Its 4 lanes of traffic on each side, its the only entry into Kolkata from South, and this bridge allows only one way traffic for 1 hour. (The new one being constructed right next to it was stuck in litigations) We promptly got stuck in the middle of the mess. Saw some of the locals taking the opposite lane and getting ahead of the trucks, it seems they let cars and smaller vehicles pass easily. But the information was too late as we had to wait till we got onto the next gap in the median. We did not bother, Kid and wife were sleeping in the back, did not want to offroad here and there and wake them up. I took up this opportunity to mingle with the truckers and see what they think of the roads.

The lineup of trucks, 4 Kms long.

From 8 PM till 2 AM we were at this spot.

The traffic was allowed to go at 2 AM and we crossed the next 70 odd kms in 50 minutes and were at home by 3 AM. Approach to Kolkata after the bridge was a breeze. 7 Km after the tollgate on NH6 GQ we got the exit for 2nd Hoogly Bridge Via Kona Expressway. I must say here that Kolkata is way ahead of Bangalore and Chennai in terms of Signage and Road Layout.

Photographs: Shubhodeep Das, Aparajita Ghosh