Heavy blow on Theaters without Safety measures

There are some theatres which do not provide adequate facilities in case any fire accident happens. In such juncture, there is no management which would help out in dealing with the situation. Some theatres are so crammed, that the fire engine services cannot round it off and provide rescue operations. The unclean atmosphere of some theatres is troubling the people. The government is taking serious steps in the norms which the film theatre management has to follow, especially regarding the safety facilities. Special orders are given to find out how well the theatres have their safety measure facilities and infrastructure. A single screen theatre building should have a tank of 10,000 liters capacity on the terrace. If the terrace doesn’t allow such heavy tanker, it can have 5,000 liters capacity tank and one 10,000 liter tank on the ground level. The space around the theatre should be convenient for the fire engine to go around. Ticket counters, parking area, pan shops should not be present in that area. All the entries to the theatre must be equipped with mercury lights as per government’s orders.

Before the film begins, the theatre should air the fire exit and its precautions video given by the government. Along with it, the details of theatre’s fire exits should also be presented. For a theatre having balcony, there should be stairs for both the sides of it. The theatre staff should be trained well in handling a safety situation by the Fire department. The information pamphlet issued by the fire department should be given to every staff member in the theatre. Every theatre which has been constructed after the year 2005 has to follow these rules without any exception. For theatres which were constructed before, some flexibility in the rules is given.

There have been many complaints about how the theatres are maintained in certain towns and cities to the Government. Though the ticket says the theatre is air conditioned, the management is not following the standards. Washrooms are maintained in an unclean fashion. The film is not being projected with good equipment. Poor projection techniques and the usage of worn out equipment is the main reason for this. With respect to Sound as well, Government is issuing strict rules. The carbon burning technique to show a film cannot be done now. Advanced technology such as digital and satellite projection has to be used to show the film. Digital surround sound techniques are made compulsory now. Washrooms should have automatic flush and continuous water supply. The verandahs and steps of a theatre should be having lights glowing all the time. A/C Theatres should have cushion or push back seats. There should be ample spacing between each row of seating. The ticket counter should have an LCD screen outside which gives the information about film name, show timings and seating information. The ticket sale status has to be clearly shown on this screen from time to time.

Despite repeated orders from the Government regarding the theatre’s management, safety precautions – the management people are not taking it seriously. Already many theatres in Hyderabad are so narrow that a fire engine cannot go over to complete the rescue measures in times of trouble. There are no measures to ensure public safety either. From now such theatre’s ticket cost has been reduced by the Government. Currently the upper class ticket for a theatre is priced at Rs.75/- and if the theatre management doesn’t follow the rules, they will have to sell the ticket at lower cost of Rs.45/- . The same directions are given for theatres in Towns and Rural areas as well.