allowed in the forests periphery not in the core areas there is also a demand that more tourism facilities should be allowed in the region he adds its this demand that has made the land around gorumara hot property and brought into business bhola and his growing clan land lords a big deal this is the best site you can find to set up a resort bhola says pointing to the river which is less than 100 metres from the 15bigha site he is trying to sell there will be nothing between your resort and nature perfect for honeymoons he adds with a wide toothy grin the meeting with bhola was set up through some local contacts the toi correspondents met him and his two aides at a spot of their choice just outside gorumara forest posing as investors scouting for land dont worry about the rules just remember our commission 4 and everything will be taken care of bhola says as a possible deal is discussed though he works as a tour operators local partner bhola says fixing land deals is what earns him the big bucks agents like him hook up with potential buyers show them the land set the terms of the deal bargain a price and finally set up a meeting with the actual landowner land prices range anywhere between rs 5lakh rs 10lakh per bigha depending on the location and infrastructure the 4 commission is charged from both the buyer and the seller so in a deal worth rs 1crore the fixer earns rs 8 lakh its good business bhola says and its brisk business too plots on sale in lataguri and murti are advertized on prominent real estate sites and portals like quikr with the gorkhaland agitation making darjeeling an unreliable holiday spot and quakeshaken sikkim still recovering from last years tragedy the dooars has emerged as the preferred tourist destination in the east a resort around gorumara is therefore considered good investment with longterm profitability conservation vs development the tourism dilemma is at the heart of a raging debate on how to protect natural wealth like forests and yet put them to profitable use but the answers are lost in the din of political rhetoric vested interests and highdecibel activism some of indias biggest tiger parks like periyar ranthambore dudhwa and mudumalai dont have buffer areas and are grappling with the same tourism conundrum as gorumara the area around corbett national park was recently declared a silent zone noise pollution is banned in a 500metre radius around the forest by the uttarakhand government on the orders of the high court but forest officials say every time a tourism project near a protected area is opposed they are labelled antidevelopment many villagers around gorumara for instance dont complain about the resort boom earlier a youth would make rs 2000 a month cutting wood the same youth now makes rs 5000 a month driving