nearly a year ago a hotelier based out of begur 21km from gundlupet was called on by a prospective buyer the latter reportedly offered the hotelier a whopping rs 4 crore for his reasonably modest 40x40ft property admitting to being overwhelmed by the offer the hotelier said it was tempting enough for me to give the offer some serious thoughtin the wake of nh766 connecting gundlupet to the tourist hubs ooty and waynad districtbeing upgraded real estate prices in the town have skyrocketed prices have also soared in begur a municipality in gundlupet talukonce a sleepy town resting on the tnkarnataka border with its winding lanes corkscrewed across the undu lating landscape gundlupet 57km from mysuru has now emerged as the last major town in chamarajanagarfor the past two years buyers mostly from kerala have been scouting properties in the town gundlu own gundlu pets proximity to waynad in kerala a prominent tourist hub is another attractive feature that has driven realty prices up the chang e in gundlu pets sky line has b e e n drastic with many ho tels lodges and commercial estab lishments dotting the mall town the recent spurt small town the recent spurt in commercial activity in the town notwithstanding gundlupet retains some of its idyllic charm and serenity the bandipur tiger reserve which runs through the heart of the town sets the swiftly altering landscape of gundlupet in stark reliefmany people from kerala are investing heavily in land in gundlupet real estate prices have gone up ever since the highway was upgraded also the large number of tourists that bandipur attracts has seen gundlupet many hotels and resorts come up in the area said mahesh begur who owns a hotel in begurinitially there were no plans to widen the highway into a fourlane road at gundlupet but owing to pressure from the elected representatives the corridor was widened in gundlupet and begurbandipur has emerged as model place for tiger conservation in india and consequently ecotourism in the area has received a big boost the locals too benefitted from the ecotourism industry surrounding bandipur most of the tourists are from the metros mainly bengaluru they want to get soak in the experience of staying close to the jungles and wildlife by staying at resorts and homestays said a businessman who has also invested in the ecotourism industrya part of the nilgiris bio sphere gundlupets landscape is a source of pride for its residents however unbridled urbanisation has resulted in rising cases of mananimal conflict eight of the bandipurs eleven ranges are affected by the problem of wild animals mostly elephants straying into human habitats between 200708 and 201112 eight people and 33 elephants died while the department has taken efforts to reduce such conflicts the problem persists the area has also been witness to incidents involving tigers