Pujo Diaries '12: Saptami -21/Oct/2012 - Malda to Cooch Behar

The Red Panda

 The Calcutta - SIliguri route is highly probable in a SUV - but I know folks who even after driving in a Audi Q5s on the Calcutta-Siliguri route - have said "bekar ka gari hain!".Wish I had heard this prior to starting my journey. Such was the feeling when I woke up to the alarm that rang at 7 AM the next day. Apart from putting it to snooze I felt that the legs had become stiff, so stiff that I could hardly move them. The music of the Pujo songs drifted through the hotel windows from the nearby Pandals and finally we woke up at around 8 ish. After a quick breakfast we departed from the hotel at around 9.30 and tanked up at a fuel tank in Malda itself.  Like the previous day we had divided the route into 3 sections.

What we had learnt:

Section	Distance (km)	Condition	Planned Travel Time	Remarks
Malda - Dalkhola	125	Poor	3.5 hours	Recess + Tea break included
Dalkhola - Siliguri	125	Excellent	2 hours	A Straight Drive
Siliguri - Cooch Behar	160	Poor	4 hours	Includes Lunch and a late tea break
Totals			9.5  hours

Malda - Dalkhola

The exit from Malda took quite a bit of time - primarily due to the Pujo crowd. But once we exited the town, we found the newly re-constructed NH34 along with quite a few diversions pretty drivable enough. There are sections where good speeds of 100-110 km/hr can be attained. But be careful because there are chances that there might be a deep pothole lurking at some distance. Also, as mentioned earlier, the entire stretch has a number of diversions. So, whereas at some sections 100+ km/h speed can be attained, there are other sections - the ones which have not been repaired, where a hatchback like the Swift , cannot attain anything more than 40 km/hr. But overall, based on the previous day's experience , we felt happier .More so because we would be reaching home that day.  Malda to Raiganj was drivable enough and we did it under 2 hours. But from Raiganj to the point of Dalkhola-NH34 crossing is another poor section. We crawled all along at 30 kmph. I did come across several forums where it has been mentioned Calcutta to Siliguri can be done under 15 hours. But I would repeat that it is not possible in a hatchback -at least if you care for the car and its occupants. Such pathetic is the route. It took 4.5 hours to cover 125 kms till Dalkhola.

Dalkhola - Siliguri:

Over The Mahananda

For quite a while we were enquiring "NH 31 crossing kab ayega?" (Eng: When will the NH 31 crossing appear?).

Bas aur 2 km (Eng: Another 2 kms) was the reply.

Those 2 kms were never ending because of the horrible roads. So, finally when NH31 announce its arrival, I took a look at the watch it was around 2 in the afternoon. The long straight stretch was inviting. We paid a toll of 45 bucks and off we went and for the next 2 hours - apart from slow traffic at Islampur and another town, and a couple of times asking for directions,the speedo was always on the positive side of 100.It was a great stretch to drive, especially with the horrendous roads we had been fed on after Panagarh. Also it was a good way to gain some time too.We reach Siliguri at 4.30 PM and were hungry like hell. Had lunch at a road side dhaba and were ready for the final onslaught.

A Railway Crossing

Siliguri  -  CoochBehar

Lunch over, it was 5 PM when we started for CoochBehar. The road condition from Siliguri to CoochBehar has been hellish for the last 3-4 years. So much so that locals prefer travelling by train to travelling by road. The exit from Siliguri was through the Fulbari bypass. Once we were on the highway the road turned disastrous again. To Maynaguri it is almost the same with a few good stretches in between. From Maynaguri to Sonapur through Dhupguri,Falakata the road is reasonable. But there are 4 wooden bridges where single way traffic is allowed. There are 2 routes to reach Cooch Behar from Sonapur - Route 1: through Baneswar - which is 15 kms more than the usual route but is in a good condition. Usual Route - through Pundibari, where people often joke that the chassis of buses scrape the road! We took the former one, and reached Cooch Behar at around 9.30.

So, Saptami was spent mostly on the road, sans Pujo lights. The real Pujo begins the next day!