It is better to leave the installation to a professional?

Yes, if the walls you are attaching the anchor strips to are not in good condition or if the frame needs to be installed, it is maybe wise to & Risk involved in standing with Rope in outer side of your building to fix this leads unwanted incidents due to lack of practice & expertise.Do the installation by safety net Professional Expert is ideal solution

Balcony safety in high-rise living

That was a few years back in 1991 when I heard news about famed singer Eric Clapton’s son. He literally ran out of an open full-height window in the apartment owned by his mother’s friend where they stayed while on holiday. The window, about six feet high and four feet wide, was negligently left open after it was cleaned by a housekeeper. The boy entered the room and darted past both his nanny and the housekeeper and fell out onto a neighboring building. The window was not designed to be opened, and strangely, was not properly fitted with security features. The toddler plummeted down 29 floors.

In another incident in the United Kingdom, a 5-year-old boy came within minutes of falling 30 meters to his death after climbing onto the balcony of a midrise flat as his mother took a nap inside. An onlooker managed to video the nerve-wracking incident after calling in the police. The little boy sat, while swinging and dangling his legs, in what looked like a happy appreciation of the expansive view in front of him. Fortunately, the police came to his rescue.

Pigeons pose health hazards

Hyderabad: Cooing softly, they stutter around pecking at the ground, and are favourites of children who love to feed them. However, studies indicate that the seemingly harmless pigeons are not that safe for everyone. Pointing out that the rising pigeon population in the city could pose health threats to citizens, a few ornithologists are stressing on the need to control the pigeon population here.

According to ornithologists, close association with pigeons could result in pulmonary disorders, besides fungal, bacterial and viral infections. This could be more in children compared to adults. Professor Jayashankar Telangana State Agricultural University Professor V. Vasudeva Rao has been conducting a study on pigeons in the city for the last four years. Currently, there are over 480 feeding centres across the city with 200 to 40,000 birds being fed at each centre. A rough estimate is that the bird population has crossed over six lakh. All these statistics are pertaining to only 40 per cent of the city as the study is yet to cover the entire city limits, says Dr. Rao.

A pigeon consumes 18 to 22 gm of food every day and people are feeding nine different types of millets, grains, rice and other items. More importantly, the feeding centres are expanding to new areas rapidly. In recent times, feeding activity has reached Yapral, Bowenpally and a few other areas.Considering the adverse effects of pigeons, a few cities like New Delhi have already imposed a ban on feeding these birds. In Hyderabad too, the Forest Department has banned feeding at KBR Park but people continue to ignore the ban, points out Dr. Rao.

This is mainly due to lack of awareness among people. Some take it as a sentiment, while others do it for fun. But the pigeon population needs to be controlled and cutting down the feeding will reduce the population by nearly 40 per cent, he suggests.