Accidents wait to happen in cinemas

If you thought you could be safe by boycotting these two cinemas, consider this: None but two — Aradhana and Natraj — of the 16 cinemas in the city have automatic fold-back chairs, which are mandatory from the safety point of view.

Yet, amazingly enough, all cinemas in the city possess the certificate issued by the Vadodara Municipal Corporation’s Fire brigade, stating that fire safety measures are “OK”. The Sadhana certificate, signed by Deputy Chief Fire Officer D A Patel on April 4, 1998, for instance, reads, “Fire safety measures are perfectly all right”. It was on this basis that the police commissioner’s office renewed the cinema’s licence.

When grilled, Patel admits that the Bombay Cinematography Act does not allow a transformer to be installed within a cinema premises. But, he hastens to pass the buck, “the matter has been brought to the notice of senior authorities of the VMC and the power department”.

But how could he grant it an okay certificate? Replies Patel, “The transformer has been there for a long time; it was installed with Gujarat Electricity Board approval. So we can’t deny them a no-objection certificate”.

Asked if this attitude would help in case of a largescale tragedy, Patel is silent. And then says, “Even Chief Fire Officer Mahendra Desai knows this”.

Passing the buck is the name of the game at the GEB and Sadhana cinema as well. GEB’s Assistant Electrical Inspector J R Sharma says the cinema management was ordered to move the transformer soon after the Uphaar mishap. “But you know, things take a long time to happen in our country. So we can’t expect it to happen overnight”, he explains, adding, “The process of removal is in the final stages”.

Rajabhai, Sadhana’s accountant, on his part, says, “We have deposited money with the GEB for removal of the transformer and replacement of the the high tension line with a low tension connection”.

If you thought Sadhana was the black sheep, you couldn’t be more wrong. Fire brigade sources say none of the cinemas have overhead water tanks to fight fires, though the BCA demands there be an installed capacity of 1135 litres for each 100 seats. However, they all have fire hydrants.

There’s more: 14 of the 16 cinemas don’t have the automatic fold-back chairs that would make it easier for the audience to escape in the event of a mishap. Not a single cinema has emergency lights or passage lights, though all have generator sets. Sadhana, Pratap, Sagar and Prince have no parking facilities.

Of late, the police have started inspecting cinemas on their own, says Deputy Commissioner of Police (Administration) Meera Ramniwas — in charge of cinema licencing — indicating that the fire brigade, power, PWD and health department checks left much to be desired.

Consequently, she says, the renewal of Ravi cinema’s licence has been deferred and a notice was being issued to its owner. Sadhana cinema’s owner, too, had been asked to get the transformer moved or face serious action, Meena adds.