Some detour from Mysore- Bangalore highway SH17!

Hi Last Sunday (6-Nov-11) on Mysore- Bangalore highway, there was a sudden Rasta Roko by a bunch of farmers in Channapatna who decided to vent their frustration about a low closing price for cocoon silk raw material. The net effect: I had to make a detour to return to Bangalore from Maddur where I had been for a temple visit. The detour route I am talking about is the one shown here (from GM): Attachment 838876 First, a drive back from Channapatna towards Mysore, till I got back to Maddur (waste of some 20+ km). Next, I remembered having seen a sign board saying Tumkur (right next to where the new Adigas restaurant is), and decided I would try that to get home. I had no idea of how far Tumkur would be from Maddur as the sign board said nothing about that. Anyway, I had no time to explore as it was already around 4 PM, and I just got going towards Tumkur. The drive from Maddur to Kunigal (via Huliyurdurga) was just rotten (a distance of some 40 km) with lots of broken road sections, bad potholes, and crazed surfaces, especially when passing thru villages. Only the last 5 km or so before reaching Kunigal seemed decent enough. I would have continued till Tumkur but for the fact I just noticed an expressway ahead. A passerby told me this was the NH48 (Bangalore- Mangalore). I thanked my stars, got my i10 thru a rather narrow gate on the approach ramp, and was soon air borne (in contrast to the drive from Maddur) towards Nelamangala where the NH48 cuts NH4 from Tumkur. The NH48 (at least from Kunigal) is a great 4- lane expressway, but toll collection has not yet begun- it was a free trial run as displayed at the toll plaza near Nelamangala. Beware of unmarked speed breakers on most approach ramps- they are rarely painted nor are any road signs ahead of them! My people inside had a shock when I suddenly slammed the brake on noticing one rather late as I was getting onto the NH4. NH4 was not bad, though not as fast as the new NH48, and there was a nominal toll of Rs. 15/-. Soon descended the elevated expressway at Peenya, took the ORR thru Nayandahalli and reached Banashankari where I had started from. I had thus done a total of 160 km (including the 20+ km from Channapatna to Maddur), amounting to more than double the distance (Maddur- Bangalore is about 75+ km) it would have actually taken. I later read in the papers that the Rasta Roko had been on for nearly 10 hrs! Bye DrVjy Attached Images Maddur-Kunigal-Bangalore.bmp (802.7 KB)

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