After experiencing the excellent roads of the Golden Quadrilateral between Kolkata and Delhi, driving on the terrible roads of Jharkhand was even more painful during my recent drive to Kolkata and back (08 to 11 December 2007). While driving from Jamshedpur to Kolkata, one has to travel about 120 km through Jharkhand (NH33) till one reaches the West Bengal border at Chichira. This 120 km has some truly atrocious stretches.
Road (?) between Jamshedpur and Ghatsila. Note the overturned truck.
Once again, my Swift came through these awful stretches quite commendably. Of course, I did not attempt destructive testing of the suspension by driving at high speeds over these stretches. I drove slowly, often in 1st gear for miles together, and the high torque of my engine at low RPM’s came in handy to negotiate the huge craters. This time too the bottom part of my front bumper scraped the ground several times and received deep scratches.
Scratches on bottom part of my front bumper / spoiler
Close-up of the deep scratches. Both above pics taken with my mobile phone when the car was on a hoist during 2nd service at Jamshedpur today .
The agony in Jharkhand notwithstanding, once I reach Kharagpur it is pure bliss till Kolkata as this stretch (NH6) is part of the Golden Quadrilateral between Kolkata and Chennai and has been converted into a world class 4-lane dual carriageway.
On the Golden Quadrilateral near Kharagpur -- on a foggy morning (11.12.07) -- pure ecstasy!
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