Moving to Guwahati or onward into the Northeast from another state

Why the road into the Northeast is long

Pull up a map and it's obvious. The Northeast joins the rest of India through a thin strip of land in North Bengal around Siliguri, the stretch people call the Chicken's Neck. Every truck coming from Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore or Kolkata funnels through it and then runs east across western Assam before it reaches Guwahati. There's no shortcut and no second road route.

That corridor carries heavy freight all year, and the highway crosses a long series of rivers that swell in the rains. So when someone relocating from the plains asks why their goods need nearly a week from Delhi, the honest answer is geography, traffic and weather together. Kilometres are only one part of it.

How long does a move to Guwahati take?

These are the working figures we plan with, counted from the day the truck is loaded.

• Siliguri to Guwahati. About 420 km, 2–3 days.
• Kolkata to Guwahati. About 990 km, 3–5 days.
• Delhi to Guwahati. About 1770 km, 5–7 days.
• Mumbai to Guwahati. About 2570 km, 8–12 days.
• Bangalore to Guwahati. About 2740 km, 8–12 days.

Two things stretch these windows. Weather is one, and we'll come to it. The other is the occasional bandh or road blockade somewhere along the route, which can stop freight for a day with very little notice. Your move manager follows the truck and tells you plainly when something like that holds it up, rather than repeating a date that has already slipped.

Because goods spend so many days on the road, packing counts for more than usual. Household loads travel in the lockable Trucking Cube, which stays shut the whole way while you keep the keys.

Going beyond Guwahati into the hill states

Guwahati is the gateway, and a good number of people moving to the Northeast are actually headed further. Shillong is the nearest, about 100 km up the hill road, and we still plan 1–2 days so that loading and unloading on slopes isn't rushed. Moves on to Itanagar, Kohima, Dimapur, Imphal, Aizawl or Agartala are much longer and depend heavily on road conditions, so those get quoted after the survey rather than guessed.

Four states, Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Mizoram and Manipur, run an Inner Line Permit system for Indian citizens from outside the state. If you're going there for a government posting or a job, your employer may help with your own permit, but ask about your family too, and check what the truck driver and crew need to enter. Each state sets its own permit process and it can change, so confirm with that state's official permit office before fixing a date. Assam, including Guwahati, has no such permit.

Bringing your car or bike to the Northeast

Most people moving here for a few years bring at least one vehicle, and it's usually worth it. Buses and shared taxis link the towns, but day-to-day life, and weekend drives into the hills, are far easier with your own car. Cars come up on a car carrier, and two-wheelers travel on our Bike Stand, which keeps both tyres held in place over the long haul. Our car transport page explains pickup and delivery.

• Carry the RC, insurance and PUC certificate with you, and keep photocopies in the glovebox.
• Run the fuel down low and take out loose accessories, mats and anything valuable.
• Walk around the vehicle with the move manager and mark existing scratches on the condition report.
• If you'll stay in the new state for more than 12 months, the vehicle needs re-registering there, which starts with a no objection certificate from your current RTO. Apply before you leave.

A vehicle already on BH-series plates generally doesn't need re-registering when you move states, so check which kind of number you have.

Planning around the monsoon and floods

Assam gets heavy rain from around May or June through September, and the Brahmaputra and its tributaries flood large areas in most years. Long-distance trucks can run into diversions, damaged stretches and waterlogged towns along the way. In the hills, landslides are the bigger worry, and roads beyond Guwahati can close for hours after one wet night.

For moves in these months we use moisture-resistant outer layers, keep upholstered furniture wrapped and simply don't load in a downpour. Inside Guwahati, low stretches fill up quickly after a heavy spell, so unloading into a ground-floor flat may have to wait for the water to drain. If your joining date has any give, October to March is the most dependable window for a long road move into the region, with some morning fog on the plains in December and January.

Where newcomers to Guwahati tend to settle

Where you live depends a lot on why you've come. People posted to state government offices often look around Dispur, Ganeshguri, Beltola and Six Mile, close to the secretariat and GS Road. Railway staff working at Maligaon, and faculty or students at Gauhati University in Jalukbari, usually find the western side of the city more convenient. If you're joining an institution on the north bank, such as IIT Guwahati, living in Amingaon beats crossing the Saraighat bridge twice a day.

Central pockets like Zoo Road, Chandmari and Ulubari keep hospitals, schools and markets close, with heavier traffic as the price. Before you sign a lease anywhere, ask two things. Does the lane flood after a heavy downpour, and can a truck get to the gate? The second matters a great deal on hill roads, where the last stretch sometimes needs a smaller vehicle.

A checklist for moving to Guwahati from another state

1. Share both addresses and your joining date, and book the free survey at your current home.
2. Decide what's worth sending. Heavy furniture of low value may not justify a trip of several days.
3. If your final destination needs an Inner Line Permit, start the family's paperwork now.
4. Apply for your vehicle's NOC if you'll stay long enough to re-register it.
5. Book somewhere to stay for the first week. If you fly, your goods will reach days after you do.
6. Ask the new building about lift use and truck access, and mention if the house is on a hill road.

Local shifting inside the city is covered on our Guwahati packers and movers page, and if you're setting off from Bengal, moving out of Kolkata covers that end of the route.