West Bengal - Orissa Border

Driving from Kolkata to Orissa is great until you come to the Bengal-Orissa border. It is an Octroi check-point with hundreds of trucks blocking the road on both sides for 2 KM each way.

Your private car is not subject to Octroi and you should get through it without paying anything. The problem is to get to the check-point through the maze of trucks. Both lanes on each side are clogged with trucks. If you stay with the trucks and try to go through the checkpoint, you could be there for many hours.

The solution - bypass the border by going through JALESHWAR MARKET. Here is how :

From Kolkata to Orissa :

After skirting Kharagpur and taking NH 60, watch out for the mileposts on the left side of the road. The mileposts are little white blocks with a yellow crest.

Stop at the milepost that says "Jaleswar 8", i.e. 8 KM to Jaleswar. About 1.5 KM after that you will see "Dilkhush Restaurant" on the left, with a petrol pump opposite it.

0.5 KM beyond this point is a bridge. Do NOT get on to this bridge. Instead, stay on the extreme left, go down the slope, turn right to go under the bridge.

About 0.3 KM further, turn left on the only tarred road and drive on it for about 6 KM, past "Satsang Vihar" (a large white temple), until you come to a point (with a tall light post) where there is a left turn. This is the center of "Jaleshwar Bada Market".

Turn left at the junction and drive another 2 KM, through a railway level crossing, until you see the NH 60 ahead. Go under the small bridge below the Highway, turn right, and climb on to the Highway. Proceed thereafter to Balasore, and then on to Cuttack and Bhubaneswar.

Bhubaneswar to Kolkata :

About 43 KM after Balasore watch out for the Milepost that says "Jaleshwar 2". Cross the small bridge that comes 1 KM after this and stay on the extreme left lane thereafter. Then, 1 KM later, you will see a bridge on your right, and on the left a small sign saying "Satsang Vihar". Go down the narrow (pot-holed) road on the left side of the bridge, turn left onto the metalled road and drvive through the level-crossing to Jaleshwar Bada Market and a T-Junction with a tall light post. Turn right and keep driving for 5 KM.

You will see only two right turns on this road that are metalled. Te first is just beyond a pathetic check-point of sorts with a sleepy guy in khaki uniform who does not bother to check you. Skip this right turn. Drive on for another 2 KM until you see a metalled road turning right. Turn right and you will see the highway going over a small bridge. Go up to the bridge, turn left and climb on to the Highway.

WHEW ! This became a long post. But, hopefully, sopme reader will benefit from it by not getting stuck at the Orissa-Bengal border.

Mod Note
I have shifted this to Orissa forum!

The completely illegal, immoral and unethical tax of Rs 800 that the Orissa government used to charge at Jaleswar on Calcutta vehicles going on this route has been scrapped in the recent past. Good riddance.
However, I am not too sure if the truck jam is so bad as to warrant this complicated detour through the old route as described here. In my umpteen crossings of Jaleswar I have never faced such a big problem of crossing the check post. Truckers normally give way for smaller vehicles.

I never paid and I used main throughfare all the time
during transit , use opposite late and juggle as required,
though it sound stupid but that's the only way you can
get out of this mess.

Cheers

Mod Note
It is now in the West Bengal forum!

The thread crossed borders more easily than the driver.

You are great !

Chief I am sure you have crossed the border before the government officials would typically saunter in at around 11 am. The only time I had to pay was at around 2 pm when I was coming back from Chandipur. Anyway it is past now. The tax has been scrapped.

Great News Indeed !

It was an extortion in uniform thing , I have
always objected and never paid .

Cheers

Hello everybody, I find this forum extremely useful. Please inform regarding the current status of tax at the border and the traffic jam by the trucks, I am planning for a four day tour of puri and surroundings, will leave kolkata on Tuesday

On December 2011, I bypassed the Jaleswar chekpoint through Bada Market as described in first post without any problems. The road was being repaired so I guess it should be in best condition for another few months.

Never crossed using NH60 as I did not want to pay the extra '6 month tax'. Someone can confirm if they are still charging the amount.

Last time when I had crossed the OR-WB border was on last week of December, on my way to Satkosia. I even crossed it in broad daylight, leaving my home in Calcutta at around five O'clock and reaching there at around 09-10 Hrs. I was asked by some motor cycle rider standing there to take the right hand side (wrong side) of the road. I could not do otherwise as I had no other option, the left side being totally blocked by trucks. However, the authorities at the check-post simply ignored my car by waving me through. But I remember that a young chap standing nearby asked me to stop, who asked me to pay Rs 40/- or so as a road toll tax and even handed me a receipt.

Update - 14-Jan-2013:
Follow the first post by Xaverian, word by word. The direction and distances mentioned are pin point and perfect. We found our way thanks to the detailed level of information on the post.

Here are a few updates as of date:
Kol to Puri:
1 - Finding the Dilkhush Restaurant might prove to be tricky because there are queues of trucks on the side of the road.So, watch out.
2 - There is an Indian oil petrol pump opposite to the Dilkhush restaurant(qualifying the "petrol pump")
3 - The extreme left road sloping from the bridge is heavily potholed and a low GC car can get scraped at the bottom multiple times. You can use the down hill flank on the wrong side of the road.

Puri/BBSR to Kol:
1 - The Satsang Vihar sign is not present now.But follow what is mentioned in the post and proceed exactly 2 kms from the Milepost(Jaleswar = 2) as mentioned in the post and take the road downhill. In any case ask any local passerby for directions to the Satsang Vihar - it is quite a famous landmark of the town

2 - Satirically :-) There is a check post but no "sleepy guy in khaki uniform". Instead there are a few more folks manning the check post.