Re: Updates On Road Conditions in South India

Anyone did Bangalore Thrissur (via Salem) route recently?? Wanted to know how the current road condition is.
6 months back, the roads till Avinashi was good & section between Coimbatore-Palakkad was really bad condition. As I had to go towards Kunnamkulam section I went via Alathur -- > Vadakkenchery route which saved me lot of time & potholes.

Re: Updates On Road Conditions in South India

Had a great drive from my native nearby Kunnamkulam all the way to Bangalore. We joined the Salem-Kanyakumari NH route via Chelakara --> Alathur. Last year when the roads via palakkad Thrissur was miserable this route showed by Google was a blessing in disguise. So took the same route back and the roads are still good enough with lot of scenery en-route. The only drawback (though didnt cause me any problem as I started around 6.30 in the morning) is the roads are not broad enough and is filled with twists & turns so over taking in busy traffic might be pain. But still its cool route and would recommend due to its lush green feel. The roads between Walayar & Coimbatore (around 10-15kms) were not good with many fly-over construction going on. Once they are done its going be another osm tarmac. The only draw-point in this section is the roads are not that wide so over-taking might be tricky. From Coimbatore all the way till Bangalore its smooth as silk.

Re: Updates On Road Conditions in South India

Bangalore- Salem-Avinashi-Palladam-Pollachi: Good to very good roads till Avinashi. Post Avinashi its two lane roads throughout, till Pollachi.

Pollachi-Aliyar Dam-Valparai-Malakkappara-Vazhachal: Brilliant two lane roads. The road roughens up a bit post Valparai for a very small stretch. The forest stretch is a bit tricky now because of rains. Fallen Trees, forest debris all make sure you slide out on every corner if not taken with care.

Pollachi-Tiruppur-Avinashi-Pulliyampatti-Bannari: Very good Two lane roads.

Bannari-Dhimbam-Hasanur-Chamarajnagar : Truck traffic all through the ghats. Road conditions are good though. Motorcycles are not allowed from 5PM to 7AM as a result of recent leopard attacks. Roads and Trafffic are a mess around Chamarajnagar.

Chamarajanagar-Kollegal-Malavalli: The bridge before Kollegal has opened for public, which cut shorts around 20-25kms of detour.

Malavalli-K.M Doddi-Maddur-Bangalore: Road Widening in progresson Malavalli-Maddur Stretch, 50% of work is complete and Diversions exist. Once this is completed, it can be completed in about 15-20mins. Maddur -Bangalore, overall good roads with traffic.


Route Taken : Bangalore-Kanakapura-Kollegal-Dimbam-Bannari-Annur-Pollachi-Top Slip-Parambikulam-Sethumadai-Top Slip-Parambikulam-Sethumadai-Kottur-Valparai-Athirapally-Pollachi-Palladam-Avinashi-Bhavani-Salem-Bangalore.

Bangalore-Kanakapura-Chamarajanagar: Good two lane roads with irritating traffic around major towns. Road Widening in progress on Kollegal-Yellandur-Santhamaranahalli. So one can expect unmarked diversions. Driving in the night can be a bit time consuming. Works also being undertaken on T Narasipura stretch.

Chamarajnagar-Dhimbam-Bannari: Good forest roads. Tend to be very narrow on hair Pin Bends. Two Wheelers are not allowed on this stretch between 5Pm to 7AM.

Bannari-Annur-Pollachi-Anamalai-Sethumadai: Good Broad two lanes till VedaSandur. Vedasandur-Anamalai-Sethumadai: Narrow Two lane roads.

Sethumadai-TopSlip-Parambikulam: Two wheelers are not allowed beyond Sethumadai Check post. The check post operates from 7AM-4PM. And they are very strict on the timings. Roads are below Average till Top Slip. And Average till Parambikulam.

Sethumadai-Kottur-Aliyar: Narrow country roads, Pretty scenic.

Aliyar-Ayerpadi-Valparai : Very good roads.

Valparai-Malakkappara-Athirapalli: Good roads till TN Border. Pothole prone road till Malakkappara Check post. Malakkappara Checkpost to Vazhachal, very narrow roads. This stretch is infested with wild animals. so over speeding is very dangerous for Animals as well as for self. The road is open from 6AM to 6PM.

Pollachi-Palladam-Avinashi: Good Two lane roads.

Avinashi- Salem - Bangalore: Super smooth 4 lane roads

Re: Updates On Road Conditions in South India

Route: Bangalore-Tumkur-Tarikere-Lakkavalli-Sakrebyle-Shimoga-Ayyanur-Hosanagara-Sampekatte-Hasirumakki-Kodachadri-Nagara-Mastikatte-Thirthahalli-Jayapur-Balehonnur-Magundi-Kottigehara-Mudigere-Hanbal-sakleshpur-Kunigal- Bangalore.

Bangalore-Tarikere: Once you get off NH4 its two laned roads throughout. Most Potholes on the Tumkur By pass has been Fixed/Patched up. Apart from that no significant changes made till Tarikere. Overall its good.

Tarikere-Lakkavalli-Mandagadde-Shimoga: Two lanes roads throughout in good shape. Lakkavalli-Umblibail-Mandagadde-Shimoga was just brilliant with two lane roads with almost no traffic.

Shimoga-Ayanur-Nagara-Sampekatte: Kargadi(Ramachandrapura Mutt Junction) to Nagara Junction is real bad with Craters. Nagara to Sampekatte still holding good. Sampekatte-Hasirumakki few bad stretches are patched up.

Sampekatte-Nagara-Kabale-Mastikatte-Kimmane-Thirthalli: Roads are good but pretty narrow for most parts of the stretch, High speeds definitely not recommended.

Thirthahalli-Kuppalli-Koppa-Jayapura-Balehonnur: Good Roads Good Roads Good roads

Balehonnur-Maagundi-Kottigehara-Mudigere: Good roads for most part of the roads. After balur estate, there are few places where they have dug up to make water ducts. apart from that overall good to very good roads. Once you reach Kottigehara, once encounters traffic descending down from Charmadi.

Mudigere-Jannapur-Hanbal-Sakleshpur : Mudigere to Jannapur is good. Once you take the deviation, though the initial stretch is good, odd potholes start appearing after some time. After Hanbal its Bad roads till you reach Mangalore highway. They have prepared the road for widening the Hanbal-Sakleshpur section, but till that happens its gonna be a pain.

Sakleshpur-Hassan-Bangalore: Sakleshpur to Hassan, traffic will slow you down though the road conditions are overall good. Apart from C.R.Patna Bypass, Hassan-Bangalore would be a sail with four laned roads.

Re: Updates On Road Conditions in South India

Day 1: Bangalore-Bidadi-Maddur-KM Doddi-Malavalli-Kollegal-Kunagalli-Honganuru-BR hills-Kgudi-Nagavalli-Chamarajanagar-Gundlupet-Bandipur-Masinagudi-Ooty-Kodanad View Point-Ooty:

Bangalore-Maddur: good roads overall.

Maddur-Malavalli: Road Widening still in progress, though few sections are open for usage and diversions exist.

Malavalli-Kollegala: good Two lane roads.

Kollegala-Kunagalli-Honganuru-BR hills: Bad roads from Kollegala to Honganuru. From checkpost,roads are good.

BR hills-Kgudi-Nagavalli: Good forest roads throughout. However road humps exist once u descend down, Which may be harsh if you are at higher speeds.

Nagavalli-Chamarajnagar-Gundlupet: Broken section at many places on this stretch. Not a stretch to consistent speeding

Gundlupet- Bandipur-Masinagudi-Ooty : Good roads overall. Small section just after masinagudi still in same bad state.A big relief is that Sandynulla to Ooty is relaid. The forest Checkpost Operates from 6Am to 9PM.

Day 2 : Ooty -Emerald Dam-Manjoor-Geddai-Mulli-Agali-Mannarkkad-Parali-Kuzhalmannam-Nemmara

Ooty to Manjoor: Very good ghat roads.

Manjoor-Thaishola-Melkundah: Initial stretch is wide and neatly marked. After that its average(or may be above average) estate road.

Manjoor-Geddai-Mulli: Good roads overall but pretty narrow. Wildlife movement area. Certain sections are relaid and in good shape.The Mulli Checkpost operates from
6AM to 6PM on both, Ooty and Thavalm Routes.

Mulli-Elachivazhy-Thavalam Attappadi: Till about 4kms from Mulli check post roads are very bad. After its decent single lane roads with undulations and depressions. Not a high speed stretch. One can get confused as there are quite a less of signboards and quite a lot of diversions. Whatever exists are all in malayalam.

Attappadi-Silent Valley-Mannarkkad : Silent valley is in a bad shape. Innumerable Potholes that can unstable and vehicle. Infact the front wheel of a bus got inside a big pothole n got stuck. Finally it was pulled using a JCB, during which traffic had piled up on either sides.

Mannarkkad-Mundur-Parali-Kuzhalmannam-Alathur-Nemmara: Till u hit NH47 roads are narrow but traffic free,after Mundur. The route can be a bit confusing too.


Day 3 : Nemmara- Nelliyampatti-Anamalai-Valparai-Malakkappara

Nemmara-Nelliyampatti : Overall good roads. The estate roads of chandramalai and seetharagund are a bit broken at few places but very much manageable.

Nemmara to Anamalai: Good two lane roads. Road humps at few places, need to be a tad careful Look out for those coconut shells which would have fallen off mini trucks. Can be irritating to navigate through it.

Anamalai to Aliyar: Watch out for the tractors appearing suddenly out of nowhere. Few areas are under repair.

Aliyar-Valparai-Malakkappara: Needless to say ,Brilliant. The last 2 kms (once KL border starts) its broken. Materials required to repair the stretch have been piled up by the road side.Hope it is done as soon as possible. By 4.30- 5PM it became too foggy that even cars were allowed in batches and 2 wheelers were completly stopped. Otherwise Malakkappara Checkposrt operates from 6Am to 6PM.


Day 4: Malakkappara-Athirapally Falls-Kalady-Perumbavoor-Adimaly-Munnar

Malakkappara- Vazhachal-Athirapally-Silver storm Amuesment park: Most of the stretch is in good shape. However at few locations potholes spring out. Due to the rains, the out growth of plants along the road occupy a good area of whatever narrow that exists. Hence the blind corners make it even more difficult to manuver and can be dangerous in case an elephant is on the road.

Amuesmant Park-Kalady: Once you take the left from that bridge you need to enter the details of the vehicle and driver. The road up ahead is a private rubber estate road which on the other side is Malayattoor and Neeleswaram. Roads from the estate exit to kalady town is pathetic. Pothole prone, road repair happening at few places etc.

Kalady-Perumbavoor-Kothamangalam-Munnar: Good two lane roads but with too much traffic. Once the ghats start they have dug up the left side of the road to lay OFC. A significant part of the already narrow road is lost. However once you keep climbing you can notice that the works in that area are already finished but the debris still lies. Hope that is cleared too. Road widening is in progress from Pallivasal(IIRC). So you can expect boulders, slush and gravel for the next few months.


Day 5 Munnar-Idukki-Anchurli-Elappara
Munnar-Koviloor-Kottakumbur-Munnar: Good roads throughout except for that 2kms stretch before top station. That stretch too is being worked on and could be ready soon.

Munnar-Idukki-Kattappana: Narrow roads with too many blind corners. Any of them can have a speeding bus coming right at you.

Kattappana-Anchurli-Elappara: Good scenic roads.


Day 6 Elappara and around- Thekkady

Elappara-Vagamon-Ulupunni-Moolamattam-Elappara: Elappara to the deviation to kottamala roads are average to good types. After that deviation its bad roads after bad roads. Till Kottamala tea factory its loose grave throughout. After that its clay and stones till 2 kms before Ulupunni. From Ulupunni, its proper 4X4 country. Couldnt go down completly as they were felling logs and couldn't take the bike to the other side. Took the same route back to Elappara.

Elappara-Kuttikannan-Thekkady: good roads.


Day 7 Thekkady-Gudalur-Cumbum-Anaipatti-Gokilapuram-Vellaimmalapuram-Meghamalai.
Thekkady-Cumbum: Good two lane roads

Cumbum Anaimalaipatti-Gokilapuram-Vellaimamalapuram: Single lane village roads. Mix of good and bad roads.

Vellaimmalapuram-Meghamalai-Manalar Estate: One word, pathetic. Road widening is in progress. They have ripped open the already bad roads. For some sections they have patched up. But still its worse than its previous state. The Vellaimmalapuram checkpost operates from 6AM to 6PM as there is active wildlife movement in the area.


Day 8 Meghamalai-Chinnamanur-Theni-Periyakulam-Perumalmalai-Kodaikanal

Chinnamannur-Theni-Periyakulam : Good roads overall,except for some 3kms on either side of Periyakulam. Road work is underway in that sector.

Kodai ghat roads: Good roads overall. Road widening is in progress at few places but still can munch miles with much hiccups.
P.S: Kodai ghats roads may soon have a time restriction for uphill and downhill movement. Source: Cop at Kodaikanal


Day 9:kodaikanal-poomparai-mannavanur-Kavunji-Poondi-Kilvarai-Pillar rocks.

For the first 10kms or so,brilliant roads with reflector and marking. After that good unmarked roads. After few places tarmac has given way and at some more places the cement blocks have been displaced from their location. This can give a bad jolt to the spine. From mannavanur bad roads start and extend till Kilvarai. After that the even worse stretch start , which is typical 4X4 trail to koviloor(near Top Station). Roads to pillar rock are in brilliant shape too.


Day 10: Kodaikanal-Palani-Udumalpet-Palladam-Avinashi-Bannari-Hasanur.

Kodaikanal to Palani: Till vadakavunji village ,roads are newly laid. After that its mixture of good and bad roads. Areas where its good, its real good otherwise huge potholes await you. Wost part is that the potholes are neatly camouflaged by tree shade.

Palani-bannari :Good two lane roads throughout.

Bannari-Hasanur : The hair pin bend areas are relaid.


Day 11: Hasanur-Germalam-Hanur-MM Hills-Palar-Mettur-Thoppur-Hosur-Bangalore

Hasanur-Germalam-Bailoor: Awesome roads. Chances of wildlife crossing high on the Hasanur-Germalam Stretch. Once you enter Karnataka, for about 2 kms or so roads are bad, but again roads become good.

Odeyarpalya-Dzogchen Monastery -Dhondenling : Roads are average and pretty confusing. Lesser number of signboards add to the confusion.

Odeyarpalya-Lokkanahalli-Hanur: Good roads from Odeyarpalya to Lokkanahalli. Once you take the deviation to Hanur its mix of good, bad and no roads till some distance ahead of Hanur.

Kowdahalli-MM Hills-Palar : Brilliant roads, even better is MM hills to Palar. For about 2kms in the entire stretch(before Palar) roads are bad but nothing to worry if you aren't doing good speeds.

Palar-Mettur-Thoppur: Except for some 3-4 kms from Thoppur which are pothole prone, roads are generally good two lane roads.

Thoppur-Bangalore : Good Four lane roads.

Re: Updates On Road Conditions in South India

Thanks for ttge very detailed feedback on road conditions but need some help to plan my ride to Kochi from Pune in mid January 2016. 1) what kind of road conditions from Bangalore to Valparai 2) from Valparai to Kochi. Any additional information like how much time it would take me to each of these destinations would be much appreciated.

Re: Updates On Road Conditions in South India

Came back from Wayanad last night.

Bangalore - Mysore - Gundlupet - NH212 Sulthan Bathery - Wayanad (Kalpetta)

Bangalore to Mysore: Mysore road. Excellent
Mysore to Gundlupet - A few patches of under construction roads between Mysore and Nanjungadh, but what is completed is awesome. All in all good.
Gundlupet to Wayanad (NH212) - Good roads. No hairpin bends. Nothing to see on the forest reserve on the way. Speedbreakers are well marked.

This route is not very scenic but very fast.

Wayanad (Kalpetta) - Meppadi - Gudalur - Gundlupet - Mysore - Bangalore


Kalpetta to Meppadi - Well laid, beautiful
Meppadi to Gudalur - As soon as TN starts, tea estates begin and so does the fun. Best roads of the trip.
Gudalur to Gundlupet - Crosses thru Madhumalai and Bandipur forests. Saw elephants, boars, deer, langoors on the roadside. Road is not excellent but worth it. Speedbreakers are not marked so need to slow down and be careful. Not worth taking a safari in my opinion as I saw a few unhappy people after the safari.
Gundlupet to Bangalore - Already told above.

This route would typically take 1.5 hrs more as it is longer and the reserved forest roads are patchy (no hardcore offroading though), but if you are looking for some good moments to remember be it the tea estates, winding roads or wildlife, you should always consider this route.

Re: Updates On Road Conditions in South India

guys, can anybody shed any light on the road condition from pune to hyderabad? and possible night halt points if not possible in 1 day? il be travelling from mumbai, so 3 more hours need to be factored in...

Re: Updates On Road Conditions in South India

Guys could some body help me out on the route towards goa.
Route plan
Blore - rannebannur - haveri - bankapur- mudgund - yellapur- ankola - karwar -Goa

Re: Updates On Road Conditions in South India

Hi Xbhpians,

It will be of great help if anyone can help me on the road condition of the below route.

Solapur to Akkalkot to Kalaburagi to Kodangal to Mahabubnagar

This road is not often used by riders, so there's no information available on net...

Google Maps

https://www.google.co.in/maps/dir/Solapur,+Maharashtra/Akkalkot,+Maharashtra/Kalaburagi,+Karnataka/Kodangal,+Telangana/Mahabubnagar,+Telangana/@17.2018469,76.3980615,9z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m32!4m31!1m5!1m1!1s0x3bc5d082b54ac5d5:0x3c719de6c83710d0!2m2!1d75.9063906!2d17.6599188!1m5!1m1!1s0x3bc6099850597ad9:0xb6bd8736c8c38347!2m2!1d76.2054416!2d17.5242162!1m5!1m1!1s0x3bc8c7455b824e57:0x44cbe3366957ed9f!2m2!1d76.8342957!2d17.329731!1m5!1m1!1s0x3bc96d8dec116fa1:0x180c228509fb80c!2m2!1d77.6235413!2d17.1102999!1m5!1m1!1s0x3bca2603faaea475:0xc6e3676d440af165!2m2!1d78.0081221!2d16.7375089!3e0

Find local businesses, view maps and get driving directions in Google Maps.

Thanks in advance.

Re: Updates On Road Conditions in South India

Route Taken: Bangalore-Bankapur-Tadas-Kalghatti-Yellapur-Bhagawathi-Kulgi-Dandeli-Ganeshgudi-Joida-Kadra-Sadashivgadh-Polem-Gokarna-Udupi-Pithrody Beach-Padubidri-Mangalore-Belthangady-Charmadi Ghats-Mudigere-Hanbal-Sakleshpur-Hassan-Bangalore.

Bangalore-Tadas-Kalghatgi: Good roads throughout, you enter two lane roads just before the Kamat Hotel. Roads are narrow for two lane truck traffic. Road conditions are good except for few surprises here and there.

Kalghatgi-Yellapur: Good two lane roads.

Yellapur-Bhagavathi-Kulgi-Dandeli: Narrow but good roads for the most parts of it. Few rough patches do exist, but not so significant to unsettle the vehicle.

Dandeli-Ganeshgudi-Polem: Dandeli to Ganeshgudi roads are Average. Bad patches get camouflaged with the shade of the trees. Once you take the deviation towards karwar, The scenario changes completely. Butter smooth but narrow roads. Till Kadra its mostly ghat roads and then flattens out. Once you reach old NH17 , road widening is under progress, Atleast till Polem, so expect delays atleast for about an year or so, depending on rains.

Polem-Gokarna-Murudeshwara-Kundapur-Udupi: Road construction underway, so can expect delays.

Udupi-Katapady-Mattu Beach-Pithrody Udhyavar Beach-Kapu-Padubidri: Good Narrow roads throughout, pure riding Bliss. Gmaps doesn't show the road from Kapu-Uchila, But there are proper motorable roads, most of it concrete ones. The route is very scenic with the beach in your view most of the times.

Padubidri-Mangalore : Good four lane roads for the most parts of it, Traffic increases exponentially once nearing Mangalore.

Mangalore- Belthangady-Mudigere : Four lane roads for the most part till Bantwal. Once you deviate from Bantwal, narrow two lane roads, with the difference between the road and Run off area so much that it can let a lower GC car play see saw. Roads are bumpy in some sections. Charmadi Ghats, few sections are patched up but still uneven at few places.

Mudigere-Hanbal-Sakleshpur: Good two lane roads from Mudigere to Hanbal. From Hanbal to the highway new widened roads are being laid. In about few weeks from that would also be complete.

Sakleshpur-Hassan: Bumpy,wide Ghat roads.

Hassan-Bangalore : Good roads good roads good roads.

Re: Updates On Road Conditions in South India

Any one did the Mangalore-Mumbai stretch all the way through NH 66 recently.Would like to gather some info on the road conditions.

Re: Updates On Road Conditions in South India

Hi Shyam, nothing to worry on Manglore-Batkal-Karwar-Goa route except the heat and dust on some areas due to widening process. From Goa to Mumbai you have to wait for someone to show up. I had been on this route exactly one month back. Am from Calicut. Where you from buddy and which RTO is kl 41?

Re: Updates On Road Conditions in South India

Thanks Rider11: The last one I did on this route was one year ago and that was only till kollur. So was just kind of curious about the status of the widening work.How is kasargod to mangalore?.and By the way the RTO is Aluva.Next to Cochin.

Re: Updates On Road Conditions in South India

Hi all,

I did Bangalore-Pondicherry bike trip last week.

The route taken was Bangalore-Vellore-Arcot-Cheyyar-Vandavasi-Thindivanam-Pondicherry.

From bangalore untill krishnagiri its a wonderfull four lane road. Just before Krishnagiri we have to take a turn toward road going to chennai. Its well marked with sign boards. Once in chennai road its again four lane high way with well marked signs. Near ambur there is lot of messy traffic, but other than that its a clean drive.

Once you take right after Arcot towards cheyyar(Quite confusing, please ask around), its a two lane country road that goes straight to pondicherry. Roads are very good, but will go through several small villages with lot of helmet less rash drivers and even more people trying to cross the road at their own pace without giving a damn about your horn. Scenery is superb and actually enjoyable. Dont forget to take by pass roads at cheyyar, vandavasi & thindivanam else be prepared to loose 20-25 mins at each place.

While returning the directions can get quite confusing as there is not much noticeable signboards, Always ask around before each major turning.

- aziz