Dubai: Hundreds of villa owners in gated communities have installed surveillance cameras to safeguard their homes from burglars, XPRESS has learnt.
Gated communities are perceived to be secure but a spate of break-ins has prompted residents to keep a close watch over their homes.
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"Of late, we have installed around 2,000 surveillance cameras in Dubai villas," said Nabeel Ahmad, general manager, Citytec. Arvind Mehta, managing director, AVI Infosys, which also deals in security cameras said the use of camera-based surveillance systems is increasing steadily in gated communities.
"We installed 35 cameras in Meadows, over 50 in Palm Jumeirah, 25 in Emirates Hills and 20 in The Springs. With the onset of summer and people preparing to go on leave, there has been a sharp increase in the number of inquiries about these systems," said Mehta.
Depending on quality, the cost of a CCTV camera could range from anything between Dh500 and Dh5,000. It costs roughly 1,500 to install four cameras.
An Iranian woman living in a three-bedroom townhouse of The Lakes has fitted two CCTV cameras — one at the entrance and one in the backyard. "All villas have a patch of land that is looked after by landscaping gardeners. With the help of these cameras, we can monitor their movement," she said
In recent times there have been some incidents of gas cylinders stolen from garages.
Last summer, a villa owner of a popular gated community posted an online comment on a residents' forum saying, "Just back from vacation to an empty house! There has been a break-in and things are missing in the house."
Mehta said the CCTV cameras help residents monitor their home from iPads, mobiles and laptops even when they are travelling. A digital video recording (DVR) helps to store camera recordings up to one month. After a month, the camera either overwrites existing recordings or saves them in a USB.
