I write a mini travelogue soon although I am very poor at it. Anyways , it was long overdue posting here an update on the route taken from Mumbai to Tadoba and back and ofcourse the fantastic experience on Samruddhi Mahamarg.
BHPian vivek95 recently shared this with other enthusiasts:
Hello everyone. I did a Mumbai–Tadoba–Mumbai drive in the last week of February i. e 23rd Feb to 26th Feb 2025. It was a last minute plan and just 2 days prior, I had booked online for an evening Safari on 24th Feb 2025 (2pm to 6pm ) at Palasgaon entry gate that falls under Kolara buffer zone in Tadoba-Andhari Tiger reserve ( TATR ),Chandrapur district, Maharashtra. Tadoba forest or Tadoba –andhari vyaghra prakalp was super fantastic and being our first wildlife safari, me and my parents thanked God for the wonderful sightings in a less popular buffer zone. Hope I write a mini travelogue soon although I am very poor at it. Anyways , it was long overdue posting here an update on the route taken from Mumbai to Tadoba and back and ofcourse the fantastic experience on Samruddhi Mahamarg.
1. Route within Mumbai metropolis –> Navi Mumbai – Thane – Bhiwandi :- Thane — Bhiwandi is under widening to 12 lanes but road conditions were fairly okay as compared to last year. Few completed sections but half of the road is used for haphazard parking by trucks. Extremely heavy traffic even at midnight. Took 2 hours 45 mins from Navi Mumbai (Ulwe) to Bhiwandi.
2. Bhiwandi to Igatpuri ( Mumbai — Nasik NH3) :- Has been resurfaced at some places. Overall it was decent, no potholes anywhere.
3. Samruddhi Mahamarg ( Igatpuri interchange to Nagpur end point ) :- 625 kms of pure bliss !! Had it not been for this Expressway, I would have never thought of doing Mumbai to Tadoba and back in 4 days with 2 overnight stays in between. This expressway is truly a game changer as repeatedly pointed out on this thread. This was my 3rd drive on Samruddhi Mahamarg – first one being in Jan 2023. End to end the expressway is awesome, not so smooth how Mumbai–Pune expressway was when it had newly opened in 2002, but Samruddhi Mahamarg is excellent too. There are now a good number of fuel stations ( mostly HP ) with attached small food joints and washrooms but they are not hygienic barring one or two. I am not sure if anytime sooner, larger and grand Food malls would come up on this Expressway like the ones we have on Mumbai–Pune expressway. Igatpuri–Sinnar–Shirdi–Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar–Jalna is the most scenic stretch. Mumbai–Igatpuri the final stretch would be surely scenic, eagerly waiting for its inauguration.
4. Nagpur–Jamb–Warora :(100 kms ) – Good 4 laned highway, some flyovers had freshly laid tarmac. Flyover at Butibori in Nagpur is closed for repairs, so there was heavy traffic on the service roads. Nagpur–Jamb is part of NH7 while further on its another decent 4 lane road that continues till Chandrapur. 
5. Warora–Chimur (52 kms ) is a brand new 2 laned concrete road. One small patch is yet to be done, otherwise it is awesome. 
6.Chimur–Palasgaon Safari gate (21 kms) :- Nice single lane forest road with very good surface. 
7. Palasgaon – churur – of radi (63 kms): – As descrized above
8. Warora- Chandrapur (46 kms):- Good 4 Lane Road.
9. Chandrapur–Moharli gate–Mudholi–Ghosri–Karegaon–Shegaon BK–Warora (78 kms ):- Lovely forest roads single lane good surface for most part except 5 kms of non-existent road in between ( is under construction ).
10. Warora–Jamb–Kandhali exit point (57 kms ):- Nice 4 laned road as described earlier
11. Kandhali village to Samruddhi Mahamarg entry at Sindi dry port Interchange (16 kms ) :- Brand new cement road 2 laned which has a total of about 5 kms road under construction but rest is fully done up.
12. Samruddhi Mahamarg on the way back to Mumbai :- Return was an all night drive and the night experience is another level – super safe, what reflectors, lane markings, well lit exits, interchanges !! I had said this earlier that one needs to drive both day and night on this Expressway to understand how truly world class it is ! I was covering 95 km per hour at night without having to worry one bit and mind you this is a consistent experience for the entire whopping 625 kms !!
To summarise, Mumbai–Samruddhi Mahamarg till Sindi dry port interchange–Kandhali village–Jamb–Warora is the current best route for Tadoba–Andhari Tiger reserve (TATR). From Warora onwards it depends on your entry gate. For the flagship Moharli gate, drive all the way to Chandrapur city and then head to Moharli gate. And yes, this ~850 kms can be comfortably done in 12-13 hours, all thanks to Maharashtra Samruddhi Mahamarg.
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