False ceiling collapses in quarantine hotel in Bengaluru, woman narrowly escapes

For a week now Meenakshi Venkatraman and her family have been staying at a hotel near Majestic in Bengaluru, which was turned into a paid quarantine facility for people coming into Karnataka from other states. On Thursday however, an alarming scene left Meenakshi and her family shaken – the false ceiling of the bathroom of their room collapsed, just seconds after Meenakshi got out of the shower.

“The water was leaking from the ceiling for the last two days and we informed the hotel staff also, but no action was taken. This morning, when I was taking a bath, I heard some sound coming from up above, I quickly made to exit the bathroom, and at the last moment, my husband pulled me out. The false ceiling collapsed. I am mostly okay, but some pieces did hit my left hand,” Meenakshi tells TNM.

Meenakshi’s son Aditya took to Twitter to post photos of the accident, which show the rods and pipes in the ceiling exposed and debris fallen on the commode and the floor of the bathroom.

As of now, Meenakshi and her family have been shifted to another room – the third one in the last seven days. In this room, they say, the fan is not working, and the hotel staff say they cannot do a quick fix to repair it.

The hotel did not immediately respond to requests for comment. 

Hotels for paid quarantine in Karnataka have been under fire recently over several allegations of overpricing, fleecing customers, and lack of hygiene. At this particular hotel, Meenakshi and her family are paying Rs 1200 per person per day.

“We have been here seven days but we don’t know when our swab test will be done. When we enquired, we were told that the officials only had orders for testing senior citizens, pregnant women and children under 10 years of age,” Meenakshi’s daughter says. “When I went downstairs yesterday, some people told me that they had been tested on May 15 and gotten their results on May 17, which showed they were negative for COVID-19. But as of Wednesday, they are still here. Is this just a way to fleece people by making them stay so they have to pay room charges?” she questioned.