Royal Enfield Himalayan

Type: Single cylinder, air-cooled, 4 stroke, SOHC
Displacement: 411cc
Bore x stroke: 78 mm x 86 mm
Compression ratio: 9.5:1
Maximum power: 24.5 BHP (18.02 KW) @ 6500 RPM
Maximum torque: 32 NM @ 4000 - 4500 RPM
On-road price: Rs 1.81 lakh

New Town’s Major Arterial Road (MAR) may be one of the smoothest in the city but some roads in the interiors are so bad that it takes nothing less than a dirt bike to negotiate them. 

The Telegraph Salt Lake rode the newly-launched Royal Enfield Himalayan into the Rajarhat interiors, where the roads resemble Martian landscapes, and found that those dependent on more modest forms of transportation are in dire straits. 
“Every three months, my bike breaks down,” said Md Shirazuddin Mollah, a resident of Jatragachhi, riding an old bike. “The front forks leak oil and every single nut and bolt of my bike comes loose after riding on these uneven roads. It’s a nightmare riding home at night." 

The roads into the bheris were equally scary. “Here the road is so bad that even police patrol jeeps think twice before venturing in at night,” said a Sushmita Bor, a resident of Tarulia by the bheris. Tarulia, as well as areas like Khasmahal and Kulipara, share a single winding road, with water bodies on either side and it would have been a picturesque ride had it not been for the complete absence of tarmac in several places. 

This narrow road is the lifeline that connects people of the area with Salt Lake and Chingrighata. They have to travel 7km to even get to a hospital and that too over pothole ridden roads. 

“The bike you are riding looks tough. That is why you have ventured out this far. We regularly get stranded motorists who come to us for help after a breakdown,” said Monoranjan Majhi, a mechanic near the Tarulia crossing.

With these areas being brought under Bidhannagar Municipal Corporation last year residents of these semi-urban areas had thought things would look up for them but nothing has improved. 

“This road gets damaged every year and this time is no different,” said Pankaj Ganguly, who was driving an SUV on Adarshapally Main Road, next to the Bagjola Canal 500m away from Hidco Bhaban. “It is the handiwork of the rains. Every year we pile sand or construction rubble in the craters but the moving wheels of the vehicles dig them out easily,” said resdient of Adarshapally. 

The Himalayan, however, conquered almost every obstacle that was ridden over. Potholes posed no problems and the off-road tyres made quick work of any dirt tracks that it faced. “This bike has been especially designed to conquer any terrain.
It has been extensively tested in the Himalayas and I can vouch that Rajarhat offers the best landscape in Calcutta to test the capabilities of the dirt bike,” said Ranabir Roy Bardhan, the official ride coordinator of Royal Enfield in Calcutta. 

Hardly a compliment for the civic body completing eight months in office!