Theatres fail to implement fire safety norms: Official
Vijayawada District Fire Officer S.V. Chowdary said on Tuesday that even though a stern warning was given by Joint Collector Gaurav Uppal at a meeting conducted four months ago, where he told theatre owners to fulfil all safety norms, many of them failed to bring about any desirable change.
According to him, the number of theatres that do not have suitable fire-fighting equipment continues to be very high. Proper staircases that can be used in the event of a fire mishap are not available in most of the 75 cinema theatres in Vijayawada.
"The number of exit points is not in proportion to the number of seats. Inadequate space between rows of seats is another area of concern and most of the cinema halls lack fire extinguishers, emergency lighting and smoke detectors," he said.
He added that all cinema theatre managements will have to obtain ‘No Objection Certificate' from the district fire department to fulfil the prescribed safety norms. "Judgment in a case filed in the High Court by the theatre owners will be pronounced shortly We can focus on the strict enforcement of fire safety norms after that," he said.
