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February 10, 2022

The 10 restricted areas children should never enter in a gated community!

Gated communities come with comforts, security, rules regulations, and of course restrictions too. Not all residents have access to certain areas. Some areas can be accessed only by the management committee, security, and maintenance staff.

Having said so, kids certainly should be kept out of these areas for their safety as well as to ensure the operations of the society are uninterrupted.

In this article, we bring out the common restricted areas in societies and why children and residents should seldom enter.

Mechanical and electrical closets

Mechanical closets hold the air conditioning, heating, and ventilation systems of the whole society and are located in the common area. The controls are sensitive and power several appliances in the building.

Electrical closets also function similarly. They house the entire power supply to the building and the community’s power connections are managed here. Since the controls are very sensitive and even one wrong move can cause a power outage. Only electricians have access to the electrical closets.

Both mechanical and electrical closets are locked. Nevertheless, remember reminding children to not play near these closets or shooing them away when they are too close to these closets will not hurt.

The communication duct

All the communication-related cables including the broadband, internet, and telecom cables, and their wirings are kept here, and meddling with them will cause great inconvenience for the entire society. Hence, keeping kids away from this duct is important for continued internet services and communications.

STP area

It is now mandatory that societies have Sewage Treatment Plants installed on their premises. An STP processes the wastewater and the recycled water can be used for gardening purposes.

Since STPs carry toxic waste, residents, especially children should be kept away from that area since the waste can cause health hazards.

Water tanks and pumping stations

Water tanks and their pumping stations are out-of-bounds to not only children but to adults alike. The pipes that push water can sometimes be fragile and can break when colliding with them while playing or moving around. Only plumbers know how to handle these pipes.

Also, the water moves with such force inside these pipes that if a pipe bursts, the gushing water that comes out can cause grievous injuries if it comes in contact with skin. Additionally, if any damages are caused, it will hamper the water supply to the entire community.

Lift maintenance room

Lift malfunctioning while you are stuck inside one can be nightmarish and no resident should go through that (well, power cuts are unavoidable and that is why we have generators!).

If children fiddle with it, it will cause the lift to malfunction and cause great inconvenience to other residents. To avoid such mishaps, children should be strictly prohibited from entering the lift maintenance room.

Gas cylinder storage area

If a society has such an area, then they must ensure that no one enters the area except for security. Even accidental gas leaks are risky and God forbid, if there is a spark, it can cause great damage to the society.

It is best to store cylinders in the open and prohibit children from coming near to these cylinders for obvious safety reasons.

Garbage area

Every society has a garbage collection area and the entire society’s dry, wet, and medical wastes are dumped here. For health and safety reasons, children should be forewarned and prohibited from playing near the garbage collection area.

Terrace area

Most societies restrict residents from accessing the terrace and the keys remain with either security or the management. Playing on the terrace may lead to accidents and for this very reason, children should be kept away from this area.

Break and storage rooms

A Break room is the only place where the staff take some rest and have their meal in peace. Causing disturbance over there while they rest and relax is unacceptable. To ensure that the maintenance staff are well-rested, children must not be allowed inside break rooms.

Likewise, storage rooms have chemical-laden cleaning agents, acids, cleaning, mowing, and other expensive equipment. It is best to prohibit children from playing in these or near these rooms.

Before you move into a new society, check with all the rules and regulations, restricted areas, and general guidelines. Move-in only after considering everything. Also, constantly remind children not to enter the restricted areas for safety reasons.

About ApnaComplex

Regarded as the No 1 society management app, ApnaComplex has 11 years of expertise in community management. Every feature offered by us is carefully curated to meet the needs of the management committee.

ApnaComplex is the only mature solution that has undergone modifications based on the feedback given by management committees, making the software for and by the management committee.

To know about the modules we offer and how they help streamline your gated community operations, please visit apnacomplex.com.

How to handle ‘smoking troubles’ in Societies?

Smoking and gated communities in India have never gone hand in hand, and according to STATISTA , there are around 14.8% smokers in the country.

From this 14.8%, there can be no denial that a substantial number of smokers are living in gated communities and the management can not ban them from smoking in their own house – which is their private space. And in the eyes of the smokers, banning it would be an utter sin and we really needn’t have to do that.

On the other hand, the management cannot give smokers free rein to smoke anywhere, anytime. After all, children, the elderly, and immunocompromised people also live in gated communities, and passive smoking can damage their health too which they never asked for.

So, in this case, what should the management do? In this article, we share some steps that the association can implement to meet the needs of all the residents keeping in mind the welfare of the others.

Implementing Smoking Regulations

The more we try to ban smoking, the more stubborn people will want to continue doing it. Therefore, regulating smoking in gated communities is a prudent thing to do.

Below, we bring a handful of steps the management can take to regulate smoking that will encourage coexistence amongst smokers and other residents.

– Prohibit smoking in common areas (anyway this is an offence according to the law). If you catch someone smoking, fine them heavily.

– Provide smokers with a designated area and see how their faces lit up! Build a ‘smoking room/area’ probably on the terrace or top floor of the building as smoke wafting down the building is negligible.

– Even though ventilation and air sealing in apartments can minimise the smoke, they are not of much help when smoke wafts via windows and doors. To deal with this, request residents who smoke to install smoke filters that have proper smoke ratings. These filters will prevent the smoke from wafting or recirculating other areas.

– Support can be the strongest bridge between smokers and non-smokers. Every community will have a handful of smokers who are attempting to quit smoking for good. Encourage them by having a reward system. Offer gifts to people who have gone without smoking for at least a week as an appreciation. You can even conduct programmes related to the ill-effects of smoking to create awareness and encourage the ‘quit-smoking movement’.

– Residents complaining of smoke entering their flat is a very common scenario in gated communities. As a first step, request them politely to close the windows, use air fresheners and install smoke filters. If they ignore your requests, go to the association and make a formal complaint and let the management deal with it. Even then if the problem isn’t resolved, consider legal action.

– Importantly, speak to children about the ill effects of smoking and why they shouldn’t smoke when they become older . Smoking isn’t hard to miss especially by the curious eyes. Educate them about the health hazards of active and passive smoking. This will encourage them to stay away from the smoking zone.

Studies have shown that passive smoking can cause respiratory and cardiovascular disease, and can even develop cancer. When expecting mums are exposed to tobacco smoke, the infants are likely to develop birth defects including respiratory illness, congenital abnormalities, may weigh less during birth, and in worse cases, there is an increased chance of stillbirth too.

Convey the health hazards of passive smoking to smokers and how they are putting others in danger too. Additionally, communicate about the severity of COVID 19 complications amongst smokers. This will propel them to at least consider quitting smoking.

The best approach towards smoking in gated communities is regulation, education, empathy, and awareness. With the right tools in hand, you can certainly make ‘smoking problems’ in your community a thing of the past.

Category Society Wellness