The Hindu 22.11.2010
‘There is need to put safety regulations in place’
Staff Reporter
| BBMP to evolve an exclusive design including grills and safety nets for apartment complexes |
BANGALORE: The tragic death of 12-year-old Allan John Venzon Barraza, who fell from a seven-storeyed apartment complex on Cunnigham Road recently, appears to have awakened the Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) with Commissioner Siddaiah emphasising the need to put safety regulations for apartment complexes in place. Mr. Siddaiah told The Hindu that an exclusive design including grills and safety nets would be evolved and put in place to ensure that such accidents were not repeated. He regretted that such safety aspects were not in place at present.
Primary concern
The accident has also left residents of many multi-storeyed apartment complexes worried. The primary concern among them is the absence of five-feet-high parapet on the terrace.
Residents of apartment complexes which do not have a play area are particularly worried about children sneaking to the terrace to play.
A majority of the apartment complexes in the city do not have play areas and the absence of playgrounds in many residential areas makes the terrace a tempting option for the children.
“I will not allow my kids to go to the terrace on any count,” said Asma, a resident of an apartment complex in Fraser Town.
Shaham Khan, a 12-year-old boy who stays in D’ Villa apartment complex on Cunningham Road, said, “I am not allowed to go to the terrace without an adult. The guard has the key to the terrace and I need permission to go there.”
Armaity Dhalla, secretary, La Citadel, Cunningham Crescent Road, said the parapet of the terrace in his apartment complex’s was not high enough but it had grills.
“The keys always remain with me. In fact, we have a playground and a large open area. People don’t need to use the terrace often,” he said.
