Khoj of Mirigkhoj Waterfalls

Mirigkhoj was one of the mystical waterfalls that I had heard of. Even if one tries to search for the information on net, there is hardly any. To add up, no body even knows what exactly is the name of this waterfall—Mirigkhoj,Mirgikhoj,Mirigtolah,Miriglotah…god knows what not. There are 1 or 2 sites on net but this f*****S needs to be sued for putting wrong snaps of the falls. Anyways, finally happy that I am putting up the correct information on the falls. You say it my arrogance-I don’t mind.

Colours of Indian Railways...Near Chandiposh on Rourkela-Barsuan B.G line

F-16 Pilots

Me,Ritesh,Chandu and Priti left on 2 bikes for the spot about 110 kms from Panposh.Every one had advised us on the reasons for not going to the place—road not good….pretty isolated…rains….bla bla. We did leave around 10 in the morning. Picked up some water bottles from Lathikata after having breakfast. Reached Lahunipada which is around 50 kms from Rourkela. There are two roads that bifurcate from Lahunipada. One towards Barkot and other towards Kalta,Koira(Koida),Barbil. Road was wonderful and bikes speeded at 90kph. On the way we kept on conforming about the whereabouts of the Mirigkhoj Waterfalls. This road runs almost parallel to the Rourkela-Barsuan Broad gauge railway line. We reached K Balang, a small hamlet. On asking about the falls, we were told that it is approximately 25 kms from the place and road ahead will be nightmare. Road till Roxy(Rakshi) is wonderful. Stopped for a moment at the railway crossing of Roxy and took some snaps of the old hut of the railway crossing . There is only one passenger train that runs on this route. Rests are the goods trains that carry iron ore from mines of Barsuan to Rourkela. The old gatekeeper was sitting alone in a small cement bench. Lots of trees and flower shrubs is one of the typical scenes that one can see near this manned railway crossings through out in India. Nightmare- road from Roxy was one of the worst that you will come across. Every 2-3 kms, we were asking about the distance of the falls but to our disappointment, half of them didn’t have any idea and rest half kept on repeating “yehi koi 15-20 km baki honge”, as if distance remained constant even if you kept on moving. If you have weak backbone, I can assure you that 2-3 disc slips are bound to happen. Luckily, I don’t have. Some of features of this road are: 1) Potholes are so big that one Alto can perfectly go inside them. 2) Hundreds of roadside dhabas are there, but you wont get food in them. They have been abandoned long back. When vehicles don’t ply, then who is going to come and have food—Ghanta 3) Not a single petrol pump. 4) In the whole drive, not a single car we could see. We could see 5-6 Mahindra pickup vans, 4-5 dumpers and 2-3 two wheelers.

On the top of Chuna Ghat
Finally, reached Chuna Ghat and stopped for a moment at a temple. More than seeking blessings from God, we were more interested in knowing whereabouts of the Mirgikhoj Falls. The priest gave us some idea and told that falls are just 4-5 kms away and is near one small settlement called Toda Chowk. We soon reached Toda Chowk and were happy to see some human faces after a long long time. There were some garages and an old closed down petrol pump. It is as if people over here had already experienced Dooms Day and seen the Phoenix flying. They have nothing to complain and have accepted the fate…fate of staying at a place where Government officials are unmoved, doctors are not there for health issues, poor communication-both road and telecom, selfish and worthless Politicians who don’t have neither say nor guts to raise the issues at Delhi or Bhubaneswar, Timber Mafias involved in rampage felling of trees leading to destruction of natural resources of the locals---God help these people. Only source of income—repairing punctured tyres of dumpers and tippers. On a lighter side, sometimes, I think politicians are unmoved about the pathetic situation of the road, as they must be getting some percentage of this income of garages. I feel soooooo sorry for them. No doubt that Naxalism is growing because of all this factors. I hope our politicians and esteemed Administrative officers understand this problem. Naxalism can't be fought only with guns.

After crossing Toda Chowk,there is a bridge.This place is 2kms before Kalta. One needs to take a right turn from this bridge on forest road. Roaring sound of Mirigkhoj waterfalls strike hard on your ears. The falls are just 100 meters from the road. There is not a single signboard which tells the passers by about this magnificent fall. Signboard hoga bhi kaise-our tourism minister would not have ever visited this place.

Mirigkhoj Waterfalls

Near the Mirigkhoj Waterfalls

Never expected the Mirigkhoj waterfalls to be so beautiful. It was in full flow because of rains. Stayed there for half an hour and went on clicking.

Railway Crossing at Roxy(Rakhshi)...old man's hut on left

As usual ...Gulping...

We returned to the main road, started our return journey and drove non stop to Lahunipada. Had our lunch of mutton and rice over there and reached back Rourkela around 6 in the evening.

Can actually name this trip as “ Khoj of Mirigkhoj”.

Mirigkhoj,Mirgikhoj,Miriglotah,Mirgitolah,Mirig Khoj,Mirgi Khoj,Mirig Tolah,Mirig Lotah.