Calcutta - Raiganj Road Trip

31 October 2020: Calcutta to Raiganj (486km)

So the trip, a staycation finally starts. This was originally supposed to be a drive through the heart of India, now diluted down to a drive through the heart of Bengal. First stop Raiganj and Tapan.

Chose a different route today. Different from the previous North Bengal Trips, that is. The result was the same, though. Instead of the NH34 (new NH12), tried the Durgapur Expressway and took a right turn at Panagarh. Except for about 10km near Siuri (not sure why they write Suri on the milestones/signboards), the road seemed better, till I hit Nalhati. Just when I was gloating that I am almost at Morgram (20km from Nalhati), the NH14 that I was on, simply disappeared. The road did not exist any longer. It took 1 full hour to cross those 20 km and spirited away any time I had gained by avoiding NH12. That's when I realised why google maps was showing another route through Burdwan. Need to try that route on the way back.

Next, I had expected that the Kaliachak mess is no longer there, since the roads have been widened to 4 lanes. While the Farakka - Kaliachak section has definitely improved, the stretch between Kaliachak Signal to Sujapur is still a nightmare. Once again I ignored Google Maps and did not take their suggested route and had a terrible drive. Sudder to think what will happen on the return leg. Will need to figure something out.

The Malda city bypass is now ready. So that was a breeze. While this entire stretch from Morgram onwards is 4 laned, the quality of the surface is pathetic. These have been 4 laned in just the last 5 years, and the road is already in a bad state of disrepair. The road from Lada to Raiganj, which was built in around 2013, the one i clipped through in 2017, is completely destroyed now in end 2020. How successive governments refuse to have a dedicated expressway between Calcutta and Siliguri beats me. (Found an interesting article on that recently on the net - https://www.telegraphindia.com/west-bengal/the-calcutta-siliguri-highway-is-a-track-everybody-loves-to-take-but-nobody-ever-made/cid/1807329)

So having left at 6:30 AM, ended up reaching Kulik Forest Rest House (FRH) at 6:40 PM. Breakfast was a Panagarh, and lunch at a petrol Pump just ahead of Dhulian. Ladies got one Pather Sathi motel just ahead of Siuri for a bio break. And once again at the HP petrol pump at Dhulian

Breakfast at Panagarh

Lunch at Dhulian

The Farakka crossing remains a slow single lane traffic nightmare. However the good news is that a new 4 lane bridge is coming up, to the East of the barrage. Hopefully that will be ready in time for my next trip in a couple of years.

I like the Kulik FRH quite a bit. I remember how I had hated it the first time I visited the FRH with dad in 1990. But the subsequent visits have been quite nice. Tubelights, dark otherwise, sound of vehicles on the highway nearby - reminds me of my childhood.

Went for a brief walk after reaching. It was already dark. Had a great dinner. FRH dinner. Chicken curry, daal and chapati/rice. Mr. Barun Saha came to meet us. He is the beat officer at Kulik. The DFO, Mr. Somnath Sarkar seems to be my dad's pupil at EFRC. So he had kindly arranged for everything. It was good to come to a friendly, reclusive place to stay in, after a hard day's drive. The whole place (at Kulik) smells of birds. Will see them tomorrow morning!