Chikkamagaluru: Kemmanngundi, a hill station surrounded by the Baba Budan Giri Hills and popularly known as the “Ooty of Karnataka” in Tarikere taluk of Chikkamagaluru district has lost its earlier charm, thanks to poor infrastructure.
Yes, once upon a time, thousands of tourists used to visit Kemmanngundi everyday. But today due to lack of facilities, the historical place has lost its glory. But the government is collecting fee for entry even now.

The buildings, rooms built spending crores of rupees are damaged. The buildings demolished and rebuilt with wood are of low quality and are damaged already. Furniture, curtains, toilets and bathrooms are in pathetic condition.

An exhausted tourist will not even get water to drink since they have to walk almost 24 km to reach the hotels. Even there is no proper road facility. Though roads leading to Kemmanngundi are in deplorable condition, the government is collecting entry fee from the vehicles from Rs 50 to 200 which is not acceptable. The locals allege that they don’t have any idea where the money goes. The government says that it wants to make coffee state a tourist spot but with such poor facilities, it is not possible.

The locals hope that if the money collected from the tourists is utilised for improving the infrastructure at the hill station it would be helpful.