Hyderabad to Indore road condition update

[Gowtham]

Road condition /update ( 26 June 2020)

Hyderabad > Aurangabad > Dhule > Indore

 

Instead of going via Nagpur - Betul, this time I tried this route for my journey to Indore yesterday as I used to get fed up with the road condition from Betul to Indore despite the fact that Hyderabad to Betul route is very nice and well maintained.

 

Start time : 8:30 AM ( Kondapur ) actual plan was to start at 4 AM.

 

Reached Indore ( Vijay Nagar) at 2:15 AM ( a good 18 hours of drive)

 

Hyderabad- Aurangabad route is pretty good and was able to reach Aurangabad by 4:30 pm. This route has become better now I believe as most of the work is completed. I remembered last year I took around 10 hours to reach Aurangabad.

 

Most of the big restaurants along the route are closed or empty.I decided to have my meal at McDonald’s Aurangabad. They were only allowing drive thru.

 

Border crossing : Only once they check the epass on the border and noted down the detail.

 

Aurangabad > Dhule

Started from Aurangabad at 5 pm after the meal and reached Dhule at 9 pm.

Aurangabad to Ellora Caves route is good.

After Ellora caves there is a patch of around 5-10 km where construction is going on. Road condition is not good and mostly service road being used for both side of the traffic.

After this patch - entire route till Dhule is 2 lane with no divider so average speed on this os around 40-50 only.

 

Dhule > Indore

Started from Dhule at 9 PM and reached Indore by 2:30 AM.

This route/highway is well know and well and well maintained as well

 

Overall not many private vehicle on the route and mostly commercial vehicle are plying in the road.

No strict checking at any border. Safe to carry a soft copy of e pass.

 

Have not yet decided which route I would take while coming back from Indore [emoji846]

 

By : Amit Jain

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[sankalpk]

I feel you on the roads between Betul and Indore. NH47 is highly un-national-highway-like on average during that stretch.

Edited July 30, 2020 by sankalpk
improvement

[kapkhanna]

On 7/1/2020 at 12:10 AM, Ranger said:

 

Hyderabad- Aurangabad route is pretty good and was able to reach Aurangabad by 4:30 pm. This route has become better now I believe as most of the work is completed. I remembered last year I took around 10 hours to reach Aurangabad.

 

 

Thanks for all the details. It is really helpful.

 

Could you please share the route taken for Hyderabad to Aurangabad. Was it Zahirabad - Naldurg - Osmanabad - Aurangabad? 
If yes, you would have entered Karnataka as well for 100 odd kilometers. 

Did the MP pass suffice for both Karnataka and Maharashtra border or you had to take any other passes as well ?

 

[sankalpk]

I drove from Indore to Khandwa on Sunday (9th August).
The road is the same, except a small 15km patch at the end where you exit the AB Road and head east in the direction of Khandwa.

 

And I will say that just based on the Khandwa<->Indore road condition, I will recommend the via Nagpur Betul Harda Khategaon Kannod route to go to Indore. I travelled that recently, on my journey from Hyderabad to Dewas, on 27-28 July. I have a hatchback (Polo) and there are patches of road between Indore and Khandwa which are so bad that nothing on the whole Betul to Indore (via Harda Kannod Khategaon) route compares with them. I got off of that road at Double Chowki, to head to Dewas, and I can vouch for the entire stretch between Betul and Double Chowki as having no section which is as bad as the bad sections I encountered on the way from Indore to Khandwa exit of AB Road. This includes the hill patch between Chicholi and Timarni --- I will agree that it needs to be navigated with care, and it has bad patches, still none of them are as bad as sections of road on AB Road when you go from Indore to Khandwa in terms of pothole size and frequency and overall state of the road.

We travelled from Dewas to Khandwa, via Indore Bypass in my dad's Fortuner, and even with that car I had to be quite careful in a number of patches after exiting Indore Bypass onto the 2-lane road.

 

Based on that I will recommend against the Aurangabad > Dhule > ... Route for Hyderabad to Indore.

Update: As I write the guide for the Betul to Dewas road... I am beginning to think I was too judgemental here. It's a choice. You can make yours  Both the roads have their pros and cons.

Edited August 15, 2020 by sankalpk
Wisdom

[sankalpk]

Here is a detailed overview of the Road Journey from Hyderabad to Dewas, which is the same as the road to Indore until a place called Double Chowki, from where Indore Bypass is only 23 more km on NH-47, and from where I cut north towards Dewas.
 

Hyderabad to Nagpur (27th July 2020)

 

Nagpur to Betul (28th July 2020)

Betul to Dewas (28th July 2020)

 

Driving time for Nagpur (Le Meridien, South end of the City) to Dewas (Nagpur -> Betul -> Harda -> Kannod -> Double Chowki -> Dewas) was around 9-10 hours (including occasional stops, no scenic detour in the hills)

Look out for the exit sign saying "Indore" as you approach Betul, and prepare yourself for a less epic journey in terms of road quality. Speed breakers will happen, unmarked ones too. And of course there'll be some bad road.
Google maps should guide you fine in terms of the route to take, I will put down here some pointers about specific things. Note that all this is for the up journey, from Betul towards Dewas.

The road until Chicholi is mostly good, if you are cautious enough regarding what folks ahead of you are doing, and slow down when you see them slow down. I wouldn't recommend speeding past 120 unless you're very sure of what you are doing. Mostly you'll find yourself going at speeds like 80-100 max, until the real bad stuff arrives after Chicholi. Of course, when you pass human inhabitation, please slow down as courtesy to the people living there.

Over here you will see a temple literally on the side of the road (left side) and the moment you pass such a temple, please become alert for some pesky small speed bumps
This leftward curve in the road is a bad patch. Please slow down and navigate it carefully until the road becomes OK again.
Another bad patch here, at the left turn in the road.
From this point until this point, after you've crossed Chicholi, I recommend taking it slow, because you're going to have to slow down again and again due to the road condition through the town.

Now after Chicholi please bear in mind that, at least for AirTel users, the network will vanish at some point very soon. Send your messages, save your offline maps etc. Network will only return when you're descending out of the hills on the other side, on the Timarni side. The scenery will be gorgeous though, and if you take some detours, you can see some very pretty and rather unspoiled rural areas. Reminded me of the Shire from LOTR, I kid you not.

Bad road here and very shortly after that over here too.
Bad road again.

In the hills the road is mostly average or below average. Wouldn't recommend any high speeds at all. One silver lining is that there's road building works in progress, and that means maybe in a year or two we'll have a decent road in this patch, which'll tilt the scales very definitively in favour of this route via Nagpur, Betul, Harda.
But the scenery makes up for it. I would recommend taking breaks if you need to, breathing the air, listening to the sounds etc etc
If you want to take the lovely little villages detour I talked about above, exit the highway onto the Pradhan Mantri Grameen Sadak Yojna Road that splits from here and come back the same way once you've had your fill. I would suggest taking out at least an hour for this detour. If it has rained, the scenery is lovely, and there are lots of small seasonal rivulets, lakes and so forth. Surprise fun fact: The detour road is actually better than the main road. Go figure.

 

AirTel network returns somewhere around here.

Once the hilly terrain of the Satpuras has ended, we're in mostly flat lands of the Narmada basin until some point past Kannod where you climb up ghats to get onto the Malwa Plateau. Reasonable roads, most of the way, after what you'll have crossed in the hills just prior.

Once you reach Timarni, and you turn left to go west-ish towards Harda, there's an area full of very irksome small speed bumps. This marker falls somewhere within that pesky small speed bump territory. Once they start, they keep happening for a good long while (maybe more than 10-15 km?). You have been warned.

In Harda you follow google maps and road signs to exit north-bound, cross Narmada ji (side rant: if you see good amounts of water in the river consider yourself lucky and probably stop to take in a sight which you may not see again in the future, given how rainfall's dwindling and forests in MP are going away faster than we can imagine) and head towards Khategaon.

I don't have a lot of map markers to drop after Harda, but I think that's a good thing, because it means I didn't have to slow down very much very frequently. 

After Khategaon once you have reached Kannod, if you want to go to Dewas, I will recommend going north towards Ashta and using Bhopal Road from there. It's a much nicer driving experience (I did it recently on my way back from Khandwa via Punasa Dam on 9th August). No reason to go via Double Chowki etc. from Kannod.
If you are going to Indore, you will continue on NH-47. After Kannod you'll encounter a generous frequency of speed breakers for a while. Then they'll thin out. Safe driving!

I will recommend leaving from Nagpur as early as possible, so that you get to Indore while there is daylight. These 2-lane roads aren't great for your eyes after sundown, thanks to our national standard of driving in high beam.

DISCLAIMER: The points I've marked might not be the only ones, there could be more, and road situations change.
But I've tried to inform you of the ones that were bad enough that I stopped to save them in my google maps.

Edited August 18, 2020 by sankalpk
Add more information

[Gowtham]

On 8/15/2020 at 12:36 PM, sankalpk said:

I will recommend leaving from Nagpur as early as possible, so that you get to Indore while there is daylight. These 2-lane roads aren't great for your eyes after sundown, thanks to our national standard of driving in high beam.
 

 

Thank you for the update Sankalp, you information will be very helpful for the people who are travelling during COVID.
Appreciate your contribution. 

[Guest pramod]

On 8/16/2020 at 1:06 AM, sankalpk said:

Here is a detailed overview of the Road Journey from Hyderabad to Dewas, which is the same as the road to Indore until a place called Double Chowki, from where Indore Bypass is only 23 more km on NH-47, and from where I cut north towards Dewas.
 

Hyderabad to Nagpur (27th July 2020)

 

Nagpur to Betul (28th July 2020)

Betul to Dewas (28th July 2020)

 

Driving time for Nagpur (Le Meridien, South end of the City) to Dewas (Nagpur -> Betul -> Harda -> Kannod -> Double Chowki -> Dewas) was around 9-10 hours (including occasional stops, no scenic detour in the hills)

Look out for the exit sign saying "Indore" as you approach Betul, and prepare yourself for a less epic journey in terms of road quality. Speed breakers will happen, unmarked ones too. And of course there'll be some bad road.
Google maps should guide you fine in terms of the route to take, I will put down here some pointers about specific things. Note that all this is for the up journey, from Betul towards Dewas.

The road until Chicholi is mostly good, if you are cautious enough regarding what folks ahead of you are doing, and slow down when you see them slow down. I wouldn't recommend speeding past 120 unless you're very sure of what you are doing. Mostly you'll find yourself going at speeds like 80-100 max, until the real bad stuff arrives after Chicholi. Of course, when you pass human inhabitation, please slow down as courtesy to the people living there.

Over here you will see a temple literally on the side of the road (left side) and the moment you pass such a temple, please become alert for some pesky small speed bumps
This leftward curve in the road is a bad patch. Please slow down and navigate it carefully until the road becomes OK again.
Another bad patch here, at the left turn in the road.
From this point until this point, after you've crossed Chicholi, I recommend taking it slow, because you're going to have to slow down again and again due to the road condition through the town.

Now after Chicholi please bear in mind that, at least for AirTel users, the network will vanish at some point very soon. Send your messages, save your offline maps etc. Network will only return when you're descending out of the hills on the other side, on the Timarni side. The scenery will be gorgeous though, and if you take some detours, you can see some very pretty and rather unspoiled rural areas. Reminded me of the Shire from LOTR, I kid you not.

Bad road here and very shortly after that over here too.
Bad road again.

In the hills the road is mostly average or below average. Wouldn't recommend any high speeds at all. One silver lining is that there's road building works in progress, and that means maybe in a year or two we'll have a decent road in this patch, which'll tilt the scales very definitively in favour of this route via Nagpur, Betul, Harda.
But the scenery makes up for it. I would recommend taking breaks if you need to, breathing the air, listening to the sounds etc etc
If you want to take the lovely little villages detour I talked about above, exit the highway onto the Pradhan Mantri Grameen Sadak Yojna Road that splits from here and come back the same way once you've had your fill. I would suggest taking out at least an hour for this detour. If it has rained, the scenery is lovely, and there are lots of small seasonal rivulets, lakes and so forth. Surprise fun fact: The detour road is actually better than the main road. Go figure.

 

AirTel network returns somewhere around here.

Once the hilly terrain of the Satpuras has ended, we're in mostly flat lands of the Narmada basin until some point past Kannod where you climb up ghats to get onto the Malwa Plateau. Reasonable roads, most of the way, after what you'll have crossed in the hills just prior.

Once you reach Timarni, and you turn left to go west-ish towards Harda, there's an area full of very irksome small speed bumps. This marker falls somewhere within that pesky small speed bump territory. Once they start, they keep happening for a good long while (maybe more than 10-15 km?). You have been warned.

In Harda you follow google maps and road signs to exit north-bound, cross Narmada ji (side rant: if you see good amounts of water in the river consider yourself lucky and probably stop to take in a sight which you may not see again in the future, given how rainfall's dwindling and forests in MP are going away faster than we can imagine) and head towards Khategaon.

I don't have a lot of map markers to drop after Harda, but I think that's a good thing, because it means I didn't have to slow down very much very frequently. 

After Khategaon once you have reached Kannod, if you want to go to Dewas, I will recommend going north towards Ashta and using Bhopal Road from there. It's a much nicer driving experience (I did it recently on my way back from Khandwa via Punasa Dam on 9th August). No reason to go via Double Chowki etc. from Kannod.
If you are going to Indore, you will continue on NH-47. After Kannod you'll encounter a generous frequency of speed breakers for a while. Then they'll thin out. Safe driving!

I will recommend leaving from Nagpur as early as possible, so that you get to Indore while there is daylight. These 2-lane roads aren't great for your eyes after sundown, thanks to our national standard of driving in high beam.

DISCLAIMER: The points I've marked might not be the only ones, there could be more, and road situations change.
But I've tried to inform you of the ones that were bad enough that I stopped to save them in my google maps.

Awesome details .please do write about return journy

[sankalpk]

I travelled back from Dewas to Hyderabad this last weekend. Nothing much different in terms of the road conditions:

 

• Dewas to Ashta (Bhopal Road): Good road, can speed. Beware of the herds of stray cows though.
• Ashta to Kannod: Careful in the ghati patch (the hill ghat roads on the descent) other than that the usual level of caution while driving on 2-lane state highways. Speed bumps may be unmarked. But road condition is quite fair.
• Kannod to Harda: Bad patch prior to Narmada Bridge. Huge speedbreaker that comes before a Y-fork in the road, take the one to the right, and be careful on the Narmada Bridge too.
• Harda to Timarni: lots of speed bumps in the 20 mins before Timarni
• Timarni to Chicholi:
  • Part 1: Before the hills begin: You can go nice and smooth. Couple of speed bumps and a few bad patches but decent road otherwise
  • Part 2: Once the hills begin, be cautious. Either the road is really bad and disintegrated (often with ongoing construction) or it has patches of great tarmac. When you speed up --- as you might on the good patches --- be ready for the need to brake with little notice.
  • General Tip: Slow down when there is a downward bend in the road (altitude wise). Most of those points are bad road start
  • Part 3 : Once the hills have ended (ish), the part from there to Chicholi is good road. Minus the unpredictable bumps / maintenance patches
• Chicholi to NH44 / NH43 / NH (Road from Betul to Nagpur, 4 Lane): Just hold on to your patience. Drive knowing that any speeding antics here just before you've reached the best part of your road in MP is a bit reckless
• Betul to Nagpur: MP Side of the road --- while it is Cement / White road? --- is great. Lovely scenery and smooth road. Enjoy it. Can really go fast if you are comfortable with it and your car has grip and control
• Betup to Nagpur: Maharashtra side of the road --- Still decent, but not the same. Bit slower would be better
• In Nagpur: No need to ring road or anything. Follow Google Maps
• Nagpur to Hinganghat: Bad patches at the start then decent road mostly.
• Hinganghat to Telangana Border: Be very careful these parts have bumps / bad patches that can break low ground clearance cars. Just hold on to your guns till you enter Telangana if you have such a risk factor. You need to up the vigilance level after that signal right turn near Hinganghat (straight goes to Chandrapur, we turn right to Hyderabad). Despite best precautions I managed to bang the front passenger tyre at one point before getting to Telangana. Just saying.
• Telangana Border onwards to Hyderabad: Great road. Great scenery too. Those trademark clumps of tiny speedbumps (that get more dense as the patch ends) prior to local road Junctions. Contoured roads at those local road junctions / turnings.... So much lovely roadmaking. Welcome back to the South!~

Edited September 22, 2020 by sankalpk
Please

[Gowtham]

1 hour ago, sankalpk said:

I travelled back from Dewas to Hyderabad this last weekend. Nothing much different in terms of the road conditions:

Most detailed report. Thank you sharing the details. Very few people share the information after their trip. 

[sagar]

Amazing review @sankalpk.. So detailed.. Any note on the highway restaurants in this stretch? 
Thank you for sharing such a detailed information.. Very helpful

[sankalpk]

Hey @sagar no I carried items I could survive on. Some parcelled food that I refrigerated at the hotel, some fruits etc that remained useful across both days, kimia dates, thermos etc for coffee/tea. No stops at all in the presence of people, like a shop or restaurant.

[sagar]

3 hours ago, sankalpk said:

Hey @sagar no I carried items I could survive on. Some parcelled food that I refrigerated at the hotel, some fruits etc that remained useful across both days, kimia dates, thermos etc for coffee/tea. No stops at all in the presence of people, like a shop or restaurant.

Hey I totally get that.. That’s the best way to do it infact..

I was just wondering if you have noticed any big food joints or restaurants enroute where we have keep a track of this database on restaurants available in this route. This could be helpful for anyone of us in the future post Pandemic.. 🙂

[Guest Harshal]

Hi Gowatham,

Can you please let me know what route you took for hyd to aurangabad?Via tuljapur, beed or via Nanded, Parbhani?

Thanks.

[jarchit]

I am planning for Hyderabad to Indore and Return. 

 

From above posts I am sure I am not to going via Nagpur. 

 

My brother's suggestion. 

a) Hyderabad ----->   Pune (Stay)-------> Indore. (This is adding approx. 200 to 300 Km extra) But all are 4 lane.

b) Hyderabad ----> Aurangabad (stay)------> Indore

 

For option B:- What will be the best route.. Via Tuljapur or via Nanded.

 

Can it be done without stay.

 

Any suggestions on Aurangabad Stay.  Major food Points for Lunch/ dinner.

 

Any issues in Hills kannad Autram Ghat.

 

Regards,

 

[jarchit]

On 11/2/2020 at 7:06 PM, Guest Harshal said:

Hi Gowatham,

Can you please let me know what route you took for hyd to aurangabad?Via tuljapur, beed or via Nanded, Parbhani?

Thanks.

 

Any Suggestions on this..

[Guest SPG]

Don't go via Nanded it's horrible road, Hyderabad to Aurangabad via Tuljapur is almost four lane except 50 odd kms between Omerga to Tuljapur. If you start early 5AM with single break you can reach Aurangabad by 12:30 without doing any insane speeds. 

[sankalpk]

NH 222 in Maharashtra (the same road that cuts west around Nirmal, in Telangana, and is wonderful while in Telangana, until you cross over to Maharashtra) should be avoided at all costs.

 

I once went from Indore to Hyderabad via Ajanta caves (Khargone, Yawal Wildlife Sanctuary, MH Border, Ajanta, Parbhani, Nirmal, Hyd) and it was a road so bad I was shocked that a National Highway could be that bad. Trucks were needing to dodge those potholes they were so deep and so bad. Just avoid the Marathwada region if you can help it. Really poor job by Maharashtra government on civic amenities and probably not important on the NHAI’s radar either.

disclaimer: my experience described above isn’t recent. It was in Feb 2016. But the road condition was positively nightmarish in maharashtra / marathwada region 🥲

Edited February 11, 2021 by sankalpk
Edit some details

[rajesh08]

On 2/11/2021 at 2:20 PM, sankalpk said:

But the road condition was positively nightmarish in maharashtra / marathwada region

 

Thank you for the update, one of my office mate is planning to take this route. 

[Guest Amrit]

Has anyone travelled to Indore from Hyderabad recently? I want to travel this week but want to know current road situation?

[sagar]

On 3/19/2021 at 9:57 AM, Guest Amrit said:

Has anyone travelled to Indore from Hyderabad recently? I want to travel this week but want to know current road situation?

Please refer to the updates from @sankalpk. That has been the latest update so far..

[ytjdfhadsjfhj]

I am planning to drive down to Indore from Hyderabad sometime next week with family.  Let me know if any one planning to go towards Bhopal/Indore? Also, any recent experience at border check points.  What documents to carry? I plan to complete the journey in one day starting 5am. 

[ytjdfhadsjfhj]

On 3/19/2021 at 9:57 AM, Guest Amrit said:

Has anyone travelled to Indore from Hyderabad recently? I want to travel this week but want to know current road situation?

Hi Amrit, Did you travelled to Indore? if yes, share your experience as i plan to travel this week. 

[sagar]

On 5/4/2021 at 9:08 AM, ytjdfhadsjfhj said:

Hi Amrit, Did you travelled to Indore? if yes, share your experience as i plan to travel this week. 

Please refer to the same thread, members who have travelled lately have shared their experiences about their travel

[Azuka]

Hi all I would like to share my journey experience which I undertook yesterday. 

 

I took the Hyderabad-Nagpur-Betul-Indore route. 

 

Hyderabad to Nagpur is the same as stated above. Roads in Telangana are very nice but as soon as you enter Maharashtra the roads turn bad. From Nagpur to Betul again roads are great. Betul to Indore is completely two lane road and it's not advisable to travel in dark. From Betul to Kannod, road is quite decent. Very few potholes but 2 bridges are under construction where you have to take detour. From Kannod to Indore the last 80 kms are the worst roads of the whole stretch. 

 

We had taken an epass from Telangana which was checked at Maharashtra and MP borders. They are still strict about it and travelling without an epass is not recommended currently. 

 

People like me who run on CNG, you will get CNG only at Hyderabad, Medak, Nagpur and Indore.

 

Toll costs from Hyderabad to Nagpur was 775. Nagpur to Betul was 265. No tolls after Betul. 

[sankalpk]

Good to know the betul-harda stretch is done up properly now! someone from my family travelled Dewas-Chhindwara via Betul recently and said the same thing about diversions around some under-construction bridges in the Harda-Betul hilly part.

 

is there still a no-network zone in there? (there was for AirTel)

[Gowtham]

On 6/4/2021 at 1:58 AM, Azuka said:

I would like to share my journey experience which I undertook yesterday. 

 

Thank you for the update.

[sankalpk]

I drove from Hyderabad to Dewas around 10 days ago. Here's a summary of my experience. You can check my older posts for more detailed updates.

I wanted to write this sooner, but life came in the way. I'm going to try my best to put down what I remember faithfully.

 

Day 1: Gachibowli area to Le Meridien Nagpur:

• Hyd to Telangana Border (Penganga Bridge). Best road quality in the entire journey. Just plain superior. In parts you can speed past 130-140 as well if your car, and your temperament support it. A few jumps / uneven patches in the part that goes past Adilabad but nothing that'll cause serious trouble of any sort.
  If I recall correctly there were some bits where there are diversions for road fixing, but you should see them coming from afar, and cross those parts with caution.
• The road upto the border checkpost has also been improved. Earlier there was a super bad patch / under construction area just before the border checkpost after Adilabad, but that's been fixed up.
• Once you enter MH, many of the patches of bad road have been patched up with pothole filling, but around half a dozen or so bad stretches still remain, so be on guard all the way till Hinganghat. There's one shitty bridge which is still laden with potholes and will require caution.
• Hinganghat to Nagpur is generally OK but has some holes and you should still observe caution. The construction diversions as you approach Nagpur have all gotten finished and now there's decent road in place (no more diversions for flyover construction).

Took me a total of 7 hours from Gachibowli (via KPHB, Pragathi Nagar, Dundigal, as Google Maps suggested) and 6 hours from Medchal, including 2-3 brief stops for tea, refreshment (I carry those things with me) and car windshield cleaning.

 

(Pro-tip: To get to Le Meridien Nagpur, look out for the right turn around this place to go into the service road on the other side, so you avoid the extra 4-5 km of detour Google Maps takes you through)

 

Day 2: Le Meridien Nagpur to Dewas:

• Went through Nagpur city only, as per Google Directions. It is a pretty OK road, with lots of flyover, and gets you past the city without much fuss. The under-construction patches towards Northern Nagpur where you have the Thermal Power Plant visible on your right have all gotten completed, and there are no more diversions. There is good road, but with the occasional speed breaker before intersections.
• From Nagpur till MP Border the road is fine, no major issues that I can recall
• MP border till Betul exit towards Indore also the road is same as before, good quality. In previous posts I had called it the 2nd best quality part of the whole road trip, after the roads in Telangana, and while its quality has not changed much at all, I'll have to call it the 3rd best this time (2nd best one is yet to come). It is still the 2nd best if you are only considering 4 lane.
• Betul exit towards Harda, a.k.a. good bye 4-lane highway. I took this because I was told by my dad couple months back that the road work in the hills has been completed and the road is fine now. Some have said that the better option is to go via Bhopal. I haven't tried it, last time I went till Hoshangabad and cut west from there (instead of going to Bhopal) and the national highway was still under construction with some rather bad parts as you got closer to Itarsi.
• Betul exit till Chicholi: OK road, occasional bumps, one set of annoying speed breakers before a temple that comes to the left (I have marked it on the map in one of my previous posts), but overall quite manageable. Not excellent but not bad either. Drive cautiously to dodge the potholes but can easily cruise at 80-90 or more if there's less throughfare.
• After Chicholi also things are OK-OK, but once you've crossed this place called Alampur, somewhere between Pathakheda and Chiraptla the newly built road starts, which is excellent all the way until the hills end and you emerge amidst farmlands on the other side after crossing Ganjaal river. I'll call it the 2nd best stretch of road I encountered (only exceeded by the Telangana National Highway) because it was such a pleasure to drive through, specially after how the road used to be before the new one got completed.
• After emerging from the hills until Timarni the road is still good and you can go fast.
• Once you hit Timarni, things are kinda the same as they were in my past experiences until you cross the Narmada at Nemawar. Go slow and cautiously. Lots of speed bumps until you reach Harda, and then once you cross Harda also it's just manageably OK until the Narmada bridge.
• After the Narmada crossing, stuff goes rather bad. Road from Nemavar to Kannod, via Khategaon, has degraded further in recent monsoon and has a fair number of caution patches where you'll need to slow down and navigate carefully. Lots of throughfare also, so not much scope to go fast. Definitely the worst section of Day 2.
• From Kannod till Ashta it's more or less good road. Definitely better than what was there from Narmada crossing until Kannod.
• Once you get to Bhopal-Indore Road at Ashta, you have 4-lane again, and things are great all the way to Dewas. One could call this the 4th best patch of road overall --- one of the problems unrelated to road quality is that there are too many vehicles that try to hinder you from overtaking them from either side, although I didn't notice as many herds of abandoned cows this time, which was a relief.

Day 2 took me 10 hours! Bulk of which was due to the part from Narmada crossing a.k.a. Khategaon until Kannod.

 

If you're headed to Indore, I don't know how things are from Kannod till Indore, or whether it even makes sense for you to go via Nagpur and not through some other route in Maharashtra that would get you to Indore from the south side (Khandwa Road).

 

Hope this helps. Safe travels to everyone.

Edited November 3, 2021 by sankalpk
Fix a typo

[sankalpk]

Update: Nemawar to Kannod road has been improved. Potholes have been filled, claims my dad who went from Dewas to Harda and back recently.

[mayank]

Thanks a lot for the update @sankalpk. Very helpful.

[sankalpk]

More update. The road from Indore to Double Chowki is quite decent. I think if you're going to Indore, coming via the Nagpur-Betul-Harda route, going directly to Indore from Kannod along the same highway is best.

Dewas-Indore NH3 (A.B. Road) is supremely shit right now with its patchwork of ups and downs, and it cancels out whatever you'd get from the brilliant Ashta-Dewas patch, if you were to cut north from Kannod.

[Gowtham]

19 hours ago, sankalpk said:

The road from Indore to Double Chowki is quite decent.

Thank you for sharing the helpful information. 

[Kabla]

Any latest update on the road condition from Indore to Hyderabad? which route is better via Betul-Nagpur or Aurangabad?

 

[sankalpk]

On 2/15/2022 at 1:05 PM, Kabla said:

Any latest update on the road condition from Indore to Hyderabad? which route is better via Betul-Nagpur or Aurangabad?

 

I would recommend via Betul Nagpur. Only a bit of a struggle till Timarni, it's all very nice after that.

[Guest Avinash jain]

I am planning to travel Hyderabad to Indore/dewas in May,2022. Any latest update on road condition . And which route is recommended : 1) Hyderabad-> nagpur -> dewas or Hyderabad -> Aurangabad -> dewas ...

Any recent visit and experience will help 

 

Regards,

Avinash ( 8801194081)

 

 

 

[Guest Rohith]

Any latest updates on the route from hyderabad to indore.@avinash, did you complete this journey?? If yes can you please provide your inputs.

[sankalpk]

Update to my previous posts: I’ve heard recently that the road from Betul to Indore (via Harda) has degraded quite severely in recent rains. Google also seems to prefer via Bhopal for Dewas to Betul (instead of via Harda). Please note.

Edited October 14, 2022 by sankalpk
Update

[sankalpk]

I travelled to Hyderabad from Indore / Dewas, via Bhopal Obedullaganj Bareli Piparia Matkuli Parasia Chhindwara Nagpur Adilabad Nirmal Nizamabad.

 

Will post details of road conditions soon.

 

I think it belongs in this forum despite the unconventional route till Nagpur because it will provide fresh data on Nagpur to Hyderabad at least, which we has been described here before.

Edited October 30, 2022 by sankalpk
Update phrasing

[sankalpk]

Sorry for the late update, but here is my quick summarization of the route I took:

 

Day 1: Dewas to Chhindwara via Bhopal, Obedullaganj, Bari, Bareli, Piparia, Parasia:

1. Dewas to Bhopal is great road, no issues whatsoever. I went from within the city and it was not too crowded.
   1. There is some bad road near Habibganj Station but overall smooth experience in the city
2. Bhopal to Obedullaganj road is also great
   1. Highway has improved VERY much since my last recollection of going to Hoshangabad via the same route
   2. I didn't even feel the pinch of Mandideep Industrial Area, which used to be a slow/bad patch in my old memories
3. Obedullaganj to Bareli road is fine too
   1. I didn't go too fast because it has occasional bumps / bends which didn't feel very comfortable to me with >100 speed
      (you could try faster depending on your car / temperament)
4. Bareli to Piparia is the worst patch encountered during this day. Single lane road with not so great quality of road + lots of traffic too
5. After Piparia once the forest area starts, road is fairly good
   1. There is no network once the forest area starts (at least on AirTel), all the way until almost Tamia I think,
      so if you need maps please save offline after exiting Piparia
   2. Road is thin in the forest area after you turn left at Matkuli, so much that you may have to get your left side tyres off the road if some big vehicle comes from the opposite side, so be careful about that if you have low ground clearance
   3. Quality of road is quite satisfactory all the way, even for a hatchback small car
6. Tamia to Chhindwara
   1. Once you do the ascent up to Tamia, most of the ghati road is done, until Chhindwara.
   2. Do make sure you take the Parasia bypass, as it saves you a lot of time
   3. From Parasia to Chhindwara the road is broader but busier also. Lots of headlights if the sun sets before you reach

Day 2: Chhindwara to Hyderabad via Sausar, Saoner, Nagpur, Hinganghat, Adilabad, Nirmal, Nizamabad

1. Chhindwara to Sausar road is quite fine, no issues faced. Be aware of speed bumps in certain areas e.g. some small towns on the way
2. Sausar to Saoner also road is OK-ish, but nothing very great
3. Saoner onwards everything is splendid all the way through Nagpur. No need to take bypass, can go through the city center as suggested by Google.
   Lots of flyovers and not too much traffic
4. Until Jamb also everything is quite OK. Nothing to be concerned about
5. From Jamb once you take the right turn at the signal, until you cross over into Telangana, please be aware that you are now on the worst patch of road in the entire journey (including day 1)
   1. Do not speed much, specially if you are in a small car. The bumps / potholes on this road can be deadly. Many of them capable of causing serious damage to low ground clearance vehicles
   2. Exercise restraint and caution
   3. The road did feel somewhat nicer after the uphill climb over here after crossing Wadki
6. Jai Telangana \m/ (Adilabad to Hyderabad ORR)
   1. Once you enter Telangana (telugu signage appears, you cross the penganga river) all troubles are over
   2. Road is absolutely mind blowingly great all through till Hyderabad ORR
      1. there are those small / incremental speed bump things around crossings: 
         either become very slow or just zap past them without breaking speed... mid-speed is what feels the most bumpy on them imo
   3. The last ~100 km after Indalwai Toll Plaza felt a bit crowded, with lots of fast cars trying to dash to Hyderabad before sunset
7. Hyderabad ORR
   1. Bunch of cars were violating the 100kmph limit, I have been fined a few times so I chose not to.

Edited January 3 by sankalpk
just a small change