Bengaluru: Even as people in parts of the city struggle to survive the incessant downpour and floods, some hotels have gone ahead and raised the charges for their rooms.

The star hotels in Bengaluru are charging two to three times the regular fare for a room. The rates for rooms in deluxe hotels, which had been Rs 10,000 to Rs 20,000 a day, have risen to Rs 30,000 to Rs 40,000 a day.

This has put many families in the city in a dilemma. People who can afford to book a hotel room to stay till the rainwater subsides are also struggling to pay the rent due to the hike.

A family of four people booked a room in a star hotel since their house in Yamalur was inundated. The family had to pay Rs 42,000 for one night, said Meena Girishballa, CEO and manager, PurpleFront Technologies.

Some families had initially decided to shift to the first floors of their respective villas till the water level subsided. “Unfortunately for us, the electricity connection collapsed, making things all the more difficult for us. The only solution at hand was to stay in a hotel room till the situation gets better. The room fare was not a worry when we decided to move to a hotel,” said a citizen.

Many families in residential complexes are willing to pay the new rates for the rooms, but they find that no more rooms in hotels are available for booking.

When contacted, managers of hotels in areas like Whitefield, Outer Ring Road, Old Airport Road and Koramangala said that their rooms had already been booked till Friday.

A third problem with hotels now for families in inundated places is that many hotel managers do not let the guests bring in pets to their rooms. The guests are also charged extra for the permission to keep pets with them.

“Our families are in a desperate situation with regard to stay,” said the residents.

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Sukma, Jan 11: Nine hardcore Naxalites, allegedly involved in attacks on security forces and carrying a cumulative bounty of Rs 43 lakh, surrendered in Chhattisgarh's Sukma district on Saturday, police said.

The cadres, including two women, turned themselves in before senior officials from the police and Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) here, citing disappointment with "hollow" and "inhuman" Maoist ideology and infighting within the outlawed outfit, Sukma Superintendent of Police Kiran Chavan said.

He said the surrendered Naxalites were also impressed by the state government's 'Niyad Nellanar' (your good village) scheme, which aims at facilitating development works in remote villages and stated that senior cadres were on backfoot with the increasing pressure of security forces and setting up of police camps in interior areas.

The official said Ransai alias Oyam Buska (34), the commander of platoon no 24 of Maoists, and Pradip alias Ravva Rakesh (20), a member under a company wing of PLGA battalion no. 1, were carrying a reward of Rs 8 lakh each.

He said four other cadres carried a reward of Rs 5 lakh, a woman Naxalite carried a reward of Rs 3 lakh, and two others, including a woman, carried a bounty of Rs 2 lakh each.

Chavan said Ransai was allegedly involved in attacks, including the Jhara Ghati ambush in Narayanpur district in 2007, wherein seven policemen were killed; the 2007 Ranibodli (Bijapur district) attack, in which 55 security personnel died; the 2017 ambush in Burkapal (Sukma), where 25 CRPF personnel were killed and the 2020 Minpa ambush (Sukma) that killed 17 security personnel.

The other surrendered cadres were also involved in multiple attacks on security forces, he said.

Personnel from Konta police station, District Reserve Guard (DRG), Intelligence Branch Team and 2nd and 223rd battalions played a crucial role in their surrender, he said.

The official said the surrendered Naxalites were provided Rs 25,000 each and will be further rehabilitated as per the government's policy.

Last year, 792 Naxalites had surrendered in the Bastar region, comprising seven districts, including Sukma.