Saturday, 03 October 2020 | PNS | Dehradun
The State government has allowed the resumption of the cinema halls and multiplexes which are closed for over six months from October 15. As per the State government’s guidelines, the cinema halls will be operated only with 50 per cent seating capacity. Considering the recent surge in the number of Covid-19 patients in the State, many people opined it was a bad time to reopen cinema halls whereas some opined it is the right time as almost everything has been allowed by the government and like in everything else, proper measures should be observed to stay safe during the pandemic. “I think the government should have allowed the operation of cinema halls sooner because if regular gatherings can occur in religious places and people can look after themselves there, movie halls are quite safer than those places. I will definitely go to watch movies while observing all the precautions like I do in every public place,” said Dehradun resident, Rupesh Rawat. According to Haldwani resident, Kiran Deo, the government should lift the restrictions from all the services and let people decide whether they want to go or not amid the pandemic. “I think people had enough time to know and understand about the measures to curb the risk of Covid-19 disease. They know the severity of the condition and they will take precautions before visiting a public place or use any services. Covid is not going away anytime soon so instead of closing parks, operations of businesses and entertainment, the administration should allow people to choose but with certain regulations and guidelines. I am not a big movie buff but if now I would want to go, I will have a choice to go or avoid the multiplexes as the government has allowed the operation,” said Deo. However, some people also expressed concern that reopening multiplexes might increase the positive cases of Covid-19 in the State. “When the covid patients are continuously increasing in the State, why is it important to reopen cinema halls which might cause contagion? Most of the people will definitely avoid watching movies with 30-40 people in a cinema hall amid the current pandemic even if the social distancing protocol is followed. It is not going to profit the owners of these places anyway but it will surely increase the risk of contagion. I will not let any of my family members visit cinema halls at least before next year,” said a homemaker from Rudrapur, Sandhya Panu. Talking about the preparations to resume the the cinema halls and safety, the management of the cinema halls and multiplexes in Dehradun stated that they are prepared to open the cinema halls while following all the necessary protocols to prevent Covid-19 contagion. The manager of New Empire Cinema in Rajpur Road, Kulwant Singh stated that every person entering the building will go through thermal screening, must wear masks and use sanitisers and it will be ensured that every protocol would followed for the safety of people. “There would be ample space among all the people inside the cinema hall as per the guidelines and other changes will be done as per the necessity for everyone’s safety inside the premises,” added Singh.
According to the manager of PVR Cinemas in Dehradun, Manoj Bisht, the management is all ready to reopen the multiplex for movies from October 15 and all the necessary precautions will be taken for the safety of employees as well as the public in the premises.
