This day it was a drive from the City of
Destiny (Visakhapatnam) to the City of Joy (Kolkata). Another early morning
start saw me covering nearly 900 kms in just over 11 hours, thus averaging 80
kmph in the day; truly creditable, I thought, for the condition of the road. While
planning the segment between Visakhapatnam and Siliguri I had sought the advice
of Deep Banerjee of Indian Roadies. He had assisted me with directions during
the Trans-Siberian expedition, which I had benefitted from. This time too he
had suggested the route via Durgapur, instead of Kolkata, which meant that I
would take a detour just before Kharagpur. That would have required me to drive
over 950 km this day to reach a place where decent and safe accommodation would
be available. I was not certain that I would be able to do that distance before
nightfall. Hence, after given the suggested route a lot of thought, and
justifiably long consideration, I plumbed for an overnight halt in Kolkata. The
off-side, as Deep explained with great patience and in detail, would be the
roads I would have to take the next day via Berhampore and Malda. I decided to
brave that for, I thought to myself, an early morning start would help me
navigate most of the congested roads before ‘the beehives’ were stirred awake.
The advantage of Thulasiram’s apartment is that
it is just a short distance away from the highway. Overnight the car had been
washed and spruced up by Thulasiram’s handyman. Even though I prefer early
morning starts I have one grave apprehension of that time too. Unnecessary and
unwarned steel barriers are placed across highway roads by traffic police. Most
of them do not even have fluorescent paint or stickers on them. As is to be
expected many of them are knocked down by trucks and buses and remain strewn on
various parts of the road. It is absolutely unsafe for the traffic police to
indulge in such life threatening activity. Unless the barriers are pre-warned,
they should not be put there. In any case they must be placed only during the
daytime, when it may be of use. Such ‘miscreant’ activity by law enforcing
agencies must be put down with a heavy hand. Similarly, NHAI puts up road
diversions without intimating traffic in the opposite direction that they are
likely to encounter traffic on the same side of the road. Such negligence must
be countered and I am surprised that no NGO has taken up these issues nor have
any PILs been filed to protect lives of innocent citizens.
The early morning drive was a breeze and I was
able to reach the Ichchapuram check post at the border of Odisha in slightly
over three hours. The check post is one of the messiest in the country and it
has remained thus over the years; expect the introduction of GST to ring in
changes. The only difference was that the condition of roads had improved in
Odisha quite dramatically. When I did the All-India expedition in 2010-11 the
roads from the border to the other end bordering West Bengal was in appalling
condition. The transformation is most welcome and pleasant. The other change
has been the transit through Bhubaneswar and Cuttack, which used to be a
nightmare in the past; this has been sorted out with the commissioning of a
large number of flyovers. I had lived and worked in Khurda Road railways
division in the mid-80s. I still shudder to think of the terrible road
infrastructure between Khurda and Bhubaneswar.
When I passed Kharagpur I spoke to Deep
Banerjee to let him know my coordinates; he had promised to pilot me to the
place he had arranged for my stay in Kolkata. He was surprised by the progress
I had made and then I too realized that I may have been able to make it to
Durgapur without a struggle. It was anyway too late to make any changes in the
itinerary for the rest of the day. Deep gave me extensive directions and
ensured that I didn’t miss him at the appointed place – I am terrible with
directions and road instructions, and hence, it would not have been a surprise
to me if I had missed him.
The Vidyasagar Setu announced Kolkata. Deep Banerjee
spared so much of his time to guide me to the NPG Hotel in Rajarhat New Town.
The drive through that part of the city was a revelation; the New Town is
indeed a very modern part of the City of Joy. Deep had bargained and settled
for a decent tariff for the hotel. After checking in and making sure that I am
comfortable he ordered sandwiches and coffee, for he was most concerned that I
had not had any solid food throughout the drive that day. When I told him that
that is always my routine it fell on deaf ears. He still wanted me to have the
snack he had ordered. Comfortably settled in the room we had a long chat about
events, situations and many anecdotes. He was just them involved in assisting a
gentleman who was on a drive around the globe in a battery operated car. After
listening to the incidents involving the person I desist from describing him as
a gentleman any further! Deep had so chosen the hotel that the highway access
to the route to Malda was less than 500 metres from it. I cannot but marvel at
the extensive research Deep had done to assist me in this leg of the expedition.
Thanks Deep and Indian Roadies.
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