I was rested and fresh to face the day’s drive,
thanks to the decent accommodation in the NPG Hotel. Without any problem I
eased onto the highway that would take me from Kolkata to Alipurduar via Malda.
The smooth drive of the first two hours was no indication of what was to
follow. The NH12 goes right through very densely populated villages.
Encroachment by vendors, haphazard driving and irresponsible parking by public
transport, animals and handcarts make the narrow highway roads further narrow.
The villages become active by 7 am and after that transit became slow and
stressful. Deep Banerjee had anticipated that Berhampore will be problematic to
get through with all the traffic. It happened to be exactly that way. Every
village slowed down progress dramatically as the day wore on. Filth and chaos
added to the strain. Between 7 and 9 am I could just do 42 km! In fact, in just
a few hours the journey moved from the City of Joy to a state of despair!
I had anticipated the maximum delay at Farakka.
But this time, mercifully, that was not an issue. However, the trouble started
immediately after Farakka. The notorious Kaliachak and Malda Town detained me
quite a bit. It was all the more frustrating because the roads had been widened
and bituminized. However, a feature of this region is the encroachment of
public roads by taxi operators and private bus operators, besides vendors and
animals. The filth is to be seen to be believed. At times, I wondered when
India will ever become ‘Swatch’, if ever at all, because people seem to be
completely unaffected by the mess and garbage. Further delay happened because
of a truck and local bus brushed against each other in Malda Town and
interlocutors were drafted in to sort out the dispute as to who would pay how
much! 
The most notorious stretch in the entire drive
is Dalkhola. This junction is a nightmare, when you have to go from south to
east and vice versa. The harvesting season compounds the matter; tractors have
the right of way and traffic is held up for hours. The other detention point is
short of the Dalkhola railway level crossing. Why on earth an overbridge has
not been built in all these years is a matter of grave concern. Not a single
policeman or traffic warden is seen at any of these places local people, out of
their own will, try to reduce tensions. But these points are insufferable. Deep
Banerjee had explained in great detail how to avoid the sure to arise crisis if
one passes through Dalkhola. He had made me revise a bypass route via Raiganj
that would get to Dantola, near Islampur, thereby avoiding Dalkhola and
Kishenganj. However, when I reached the turn off to the bypass the road was
blocked by ‘civil volunteers’ who said that traffic would not be permitted on
that road and that I would have to take the route to Islampur via Dalkhola. I
pleaded with the volunteers, but to no avail. I was forced to take the dreaded
Dalkhola route and what happened over the next four hours was sheer murder; I
did just 80 km. Between 2.30 and 4.30 pm I covered a princely 2 km! One has to
maintain a cool that tests the reservoirs of patience and equanimity. Trucks
were lined up for kilometers; I followed some adventurous passenger cars to do
better than the trucks. Accidents and breakdowns further exacerbated the
condition. But, such manmade disasters that are unchanging day after day, all
through the year, do not seem to have caught the attention of the state
administration. Neither is there any effort to regulate traffic nor is there
any indication of action being taken to ease the congestion, by way of
augmenting infrastructure. I made use of the idle time to observe behaviours and
admire the countryside. Despite the impossible traffic jams and energy sapping
weather I did not see a single incident of frayed temper. The ordinary Bengali,
I presume, takes everything in his/her stride. The countryside is so beautiful,
perhaps because 'development' has yet not spoilt the land.
Anticipating the holdups en route that could
throw a spanner into my schedule for the day I had arranged for Railway
Officers’ Rest House (ORH) accommodation in New Jalpaiguri. It was 5 pm by the
time I got out of the Dalkhola rut. I was in two minds as to the destination
for the night – New Jalpaiguri or Alipurduar; it was 130 km to the former and
double the distance to the latter. Somewhere close to Siliguri I decided to
take the bypass and set course for Alipurduar. In hindsight that turned out to
be the right decision; even though it meant driving late into the night, which
I normally avoid. I escaped a few deep excavations on the left side of the
road, caused by ongoing road widening works. NHAI must take better care in
ensuring safety at the work spot.
I finally reached the Alipurduar ORH well past
10 pm and was shown into a comfortable room. Since it was late the cook had
already left for the night and I could not have a hot meal. Over completing the
documentation for the day I had a cup of coffee before crashing on the comfortable
bed. 717 kms had been done in nearly 18 hours from Kolkata to Alipurduar.
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