The concept of gated communities has caught the imagination of many people seeking privacy and to be away from the hustle and bustle of city life. However, with most of these communities located on the outskirts of the city in secluded areas, safety of those living in gated communities is a cause of concern.
Most of these gated communities are located off the busy main roads, and in some cases away from human habitations, bringing vulnerability of the residents to the fore. According to a real estate consultant, there are at least 200 big gated communities spread across the city’s periphery, including places like Hoskote and Doddaballapur.
On Monday, a 1971 war hero and Retired Air Commodore Parvez Khokhar was found murdered at a gated community off Hosur Road. Police suspect that assailants scaled the compound wall to gain access to the house.
“Villas in the gated community are not divided by boundary walls and are usually separated by greenery. With such large communities, owners should collectively work to resolve security issues. Without adequate security measures, including CCTV cameras, it is very difficult to monitor the entire premises,” says Suresh Hari of Confederation of Real Estate Developers’Associations of India (CREDAI).
He said the definition of a gated community has not been clearly outlined by the government. Such communities usually mean no access to non-residents. But, there are also those communities where public access is not restricted at all. In such cases, security could be compromised, he added.
Many of the houses in gated communities also are not occupied usually. Many owners use them as holiday homes or guest houses, said a senior official of the Stamps and Registration Department. This, along with distances between housing units, according him, increases the vulnerability since it becomes difficult to call the neighbours during emergencies. “Since security is a concern in remote areas, the concept of gated communities came up to provide a feel-good effect to those moving to the suburbs,” he said.
With most of the gated communities located in far-flung areas, policing is also difficult, acknowledged a police official, adding that most of the security issues are addressed within the community.
Amidst concern about safety, residents of a gated community in Whitefield, Gayatri Krishnan and Anjana Sriram, whose gated community is located near Hoskote, said that they were happy with their choice. They were quite satisfied with the security arrangements made for the residents and that they chose a gated community to enable their children to grow up away from pollution and traffic of the city.
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