An apartment in Buxi Bazar. Picture by Badrika Nath Das

Cuttack, May 2: Police have come up with security tips for the residents of various multi-storied apartments here in the city in the wake of the recent firing incident at Chandrama apartments in Bhubaneswar.

The millennium city has been witnessing a boom in the construction of multi-storied apartments in the city in the past couple of years.

Police officers are now sensitising the residents about enhancing safety and security measures at their respective apartments here in the city.

A meeting was held at Satya Sudha apartments at Shelter Square yesterday to discuss the various aspects including strengthening security apparatus in consultation with police personnel.

“Following the instructions of police commissioner B.K. Sharma, the first meeting with the residents of apartments was held in which various issues including strengthening security were discussed,” said additional deputy commissioner of police Jaydev Sarangi.

According to Sarangi, each multi-storied residential apartment should form a resident’s welfare association for better coordination and monitoring other security issues.

Police suggested deployment of trained security guards for round-the-clock security of the building premises, installation of close circuit television cameras (CCTVs), caller identification facility, magic eye and door latch.

“It is the first formal meeting between the police and residents of various apartments which is indeed a welcome step,” said vice-president of Satya Sudha apartments, Sapan Das.

“Moreover, we have already initiated a number of steps towards enhancing security in our apartment,” he added.

There are around seven to eight multi-storied residential apartments at Shelter Square, Kanika Square and Biju Patnaik Square besides others in different parts of the city.

Apart from the residents of Satya Sudha apartments, representatives of the nearby Rajashree Enclave and Prashanti apartments were also present at the meeting.

“As per instruction of the police, we have introduced a number of steps and such kind of interaction is a must to bridge the gap between the people and the police. This was a new experience for all of us,” said general secretary of Rajashree Enclave, Bijay Kumar Samal.

According to Samal, fire fighting equipment is present in all the apartments but there are no CCTVs. “We will again discuss the issue of installation of CCTVs and how far such measures are practical because it involves a lot of finance. We will definitely try to install CCTVs after discussing the matter with other residents of the apartments,” he said.

Stress is also being laid on limiting the entry and exit points of all apartments and maintaining a register containing the names of all the occupants and their ages.

The residents have also welcomed the step of maintaining a visitor register at the entrance gates, advising visitors to park their vehicle outside the building premises and many other issues.