After heavy rains inundated major parts of the megacity last week, the aftermath posed a grim reminder of how natural disasters spare no one. Private villas and luxurious apartments lay bare as rich residents in Bengaluru’s wealthy pockets scrambled to safety over boats and tractors away from their now drowning homes.
Many came in with a rude shock -hotel tariffs hiking rates of over 40k per night!
A submerged high-end villa at Yemalur Bengaluru
Hotel room and lodging rates soared to rooftops as India’s silicon valley sunk under water, a direct result of apathy towards planning and sustainable development. Rooms across properties, once selling for 10-20k a night, have now been hiked, selling steeply at around 30-40k per night, double the normal range, burning a hole in the pockets of the now desperate families, seeking shelter to steer clear from waist-length floods that have battered the city in recent days.
Meena Girisaballa, CEO and founder of Purple Front Technologies, said her family of four shelled out Rs 42000 to spend a night in a hotel on Old Airport road after their luxurious gated community in Yemalur got submerged.
Areas like Yemalur, Whitefield, Outer Ring Road, and Koramangala have been the worst affected.
Verified sources claim that rooms in star hotels are already booked for 10-15 days in a row, as residents expect the time frame would be enough to refurbish and renovate their homes.
“Initially, we thought, we could stay put on the first floor of our villa till our floodwaters receded, but the power backup ran out. A hotel room, therefore, is the only choice available. Whatever the price.” said a resident of a high-end gated community who found it extremely difficult to find rooms despite the price.
As people living in the city wait for the floods to die down and their misery to end, a question arises: When will this end?
