Madikeri: Madikeri is special in many respects. Its natural beauty apart, the city has, of late, earned notoriety for being the most expensive in the district. It could even be on par with Bangalore or Mangalore. Tourism is yet to be fully tapped in Kodagu. Still, visitors, particularly foreigners, arrive in good numbers, to savour the beauty of nature in the district.

The district as a whole is free from bird flu cases. However, consumption of chicken has come down drastically. The media has been blamed for creating fear among poultry farmers and consumers alike. Still, a kg of chicken is sold in the range of Rs. 60 to Rs. 70. "We will create panic among the people if we reduce the price of chicken,'' said a chicken merchant in the town.

The price of mutton is sold at Rs. 150 a kg because of the fall in chicken sales. The city municipal council, which allots stalls through auction every year (auctions were held here on Tuesday), has virtually no control over the prices. Mutton merchants increase prices on their own. The cost of seer fish, which used to be around Rs. 100 to Rs. 120 a kg, has gone up to Rs. 180 a kg. Pomfret is sold at Rs. 150 a kg. Prawn is out of the common man's reach as it costs not less than Rs. 400 a kg. The price of eggs varies from Rs. 12 to Rs. 16 a dozen. People too do not care about it. The cost of pork appears to be more or less stable, around Rs. 65 a kg.

Be it vegetables, garments, footwear, groceries, Madikeri stands out as an exception. If a kg of beans costs Rs. 20 to Rs. 24 here, the same will cost Rs. 12 to Rs. 14 a kg in other centres such as Virajpet. The deal will be even better in Kushalnagar. Tomatoes might have been dumped on the road elsewhere but it used to be around Rs. 10 a kg till recently. It is now down to Rs. 5 a kg.

A number of "home stay" operators have set up business in Kodagu. They organise trekking, stays in coffee plantations, riversides, at places near jungles, all with a view to provide something new and different to the visitors. There are people who arrange for home stays in an organised manner. But others make their presence felt only with a view to making money. The concept in Kodagu now has a following. It could degenerate in the coming days if unscrupulous players are not removed from the scene, is what people say.

With coffee fetching a moderate price these days, the value of land and property in the city has gone up. Those who quoted Rs. 40,000 to Rs. 45,000 a cent of land in a fairly decent locality in the city have increased it to Rs. 70,000 to Rs. 75,000 a cent of land. Rents for houses in the city have never shown a downward trend. Visitors come looking for Coorg spices, which are sold at fancy prices. Autorickshaw drivers operating in the city fleece customers demanding higher fares. The Regional Transport Authority and the Regional Transport Office do not have control over them in the absence of meters. The role of the city municipal council, it seems, is restricted only to ask hoteliers to supply boiled and clean drinking water during the annual Dasara festival.

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