chennai that small patch of green in the front yard where you can sit and watch the world go by is beginning to lose its sheen independent houses may have the advantages of space and a garden but as burglars increasingly target them more residents are opting for the relative security of apartmentsoccupants of a house in perungalathur were attacked by a gang on tuesday with burglars breaking open the kitchen door to rob the inmates at knifepoint such incidents leave a number of house owners insecure mahendran and his wife recall the recent robbery at their neighbours house in kk nagar the robbers broke in stole and got away in no time the police do patrol the area but we dont feel secure gangs are getting bolder says the 74yearold the mahendrans take the usual precautions no strangers allowed and locked doors they have also rented out a portion of the house to ensure there are people around next on the list is a burglar alarm he saysmaya raghavan and her husband are glad that they moved to a flat in mylapore and are not alone in a house like her cousin who was robbed recently she was watching tv when three men entered the house and stole her jewellery fortunately she wasnt seriously injured but it has made us more careful my cousin has now rented out the downstairs of her housemaya and her husband too lived in a house in alandur but moved to mylapore we had more space but decided to move here as there is more security and people are just a shout away she saysprofessor anuradhas aunt did the same 10 years ago any small noise left her sleepless so she sold her house in saidapet and moved to a flat in t nagar she saysbut deepa krishnan who stays in a house in kottivakkam is all for adopting sensible precautions instead of panicking we moved to kottivakkam 10 years ago as we could afford land here my husband travels a lot on work so i am alone quite often the doors remain locked and two dogs provide added securitythose who do decide to stay put often rent out a portion of the house i have rented the upstairs to a family and i have relatives close by says k kannan rajkumar 75 has a learning centre for children operating from his house there are moms and kids in the afternoons also my house is on the main road with shops schools and houses nearbythe government should also take efforts to increase security for residents by running rehabilitation programmes to ensure that there are no repeat offenders kannan addsall names have been changed on request