Picture used for representative purpose only.
Upset with the lax security at Samachar Apartments, Mayur Vihar Phase I Extension, East Delhi, residents of the society handed over a six-point memorandum on security to the Residents Welfare Association on Sunday.
Over 100 residents attended a meeting on Sunday afternoon in the society where 60 residents signed the memorandum. One of the residents confirmed that the meeting was attended only by residents, but the RWA members were not invited.
Residents demanded in the memorandum that one Close-circuit Television Camera (CCTV) be installed in every block. As of now, there are only seven CCTV cameras installed in the society.
Residents’ second demand is that of an intercom service mandatory for each flat. Thirdly, they demanded a provision of a gate pass or tokens for visitors. Residents want that security guards on duty at the gates should give a token bearing flat number to visitors.
The fourth demand is that of cross-checking of visitors. Rita Benjamin, a resident said, “Cross-checking must be mandatory. Security guards should re-examine whether a visitor is still inside (the society) or has left. If a flat owner does not respond on intercom, the guard must check the flat where the visitor went.”
Residents also demanded that there should be a rumble strip at every 50 metres on internal roads of the society. “Due to unavailability of rumble strips, people drive at high speeds despite the maximum speed limit being 10 km an hour. This over-speeding is an invitation to trouble, especially for kids playing within the campus,” said Sanket Upadhyay, another resident.
Lastly, residents demanded that visitors should be checked for the items they are carrying while entering and leaving the society.
Upadhyay added, “The six points were also pasted outside the management office. Later, NP Radhakrishnan, president of RWA, assured me on phone that he has gone through the memorandum. We are positive that the demands will be met.”
When City Spidey contacted Radhakrishnan, he said, “We are concerned about issues related to security. We have already made some changes in the security system. We will go through the memorandum and then decide further course of action in our meeting.”
Residents said they came up with these ideas after Vijay Kumar, a 65-year-old resident, was killed by a woman on July 20. “This incident has revealed the state of security in our society. The management needs to change its attitude and take some quick decisions on security. I have been living in the society for the last 25 years, but except for some petty thefts, such incidents of crime have never happened here,” a resident said, on condition of anonymity.
Spread in five acres, Samachar Apartments is divided into 22 blocks with a total of 250 flats. As the name suggests, a majority of residents are journalists.
