J&K admin issues guidelines for cinema halls, theatres

JAMMU: A day after allowing cinema halls and theatres to operate at full capacity, the Jammu and Kashmir administration on Tuesday issued fresh guidelines on preventive measures to contain the spread of COVID-19 like noting the contact numbers of the audience and frequent sanitisation of premises.
The guidelines were issued by the State Executive Committee (SEC) here, warning penal action under the Disaster Management Act in case of any deviation.
Referring to the revised SOPs issued by the Centre to be followed in cinema halls and theatres, a member-secretary of SEC in an order said 100 per cent seating capacity inside cinemas, theatres and multiplexes is allowed to be utilised but the management would ensure staged, row-wise exit of audience in order to avoid crowding.
“Sufficient time interval between successive screenings will be ensured to allow staggered exit, longer intermissions may be done to allow movement of people by maintaining distance and time of commencement, intermission and finish time of two different shows should not overlap,” the order read.
It asked for maintenance of a six-feet distance outside auditoriums, common area and waiting areas and noting down of contact numbers of audience during the booking of tickets to facilitate contact tracing, if required later.
“Digital/no contact transactions should be preferred and floor markers should be deployed for better queue management,” the order said, adding availability of hand sanitisers, preferably in touch-free mode and thermal scanning at entry points should be ensured.
The order also called for frequent and compulsory sanitisation of premises after each screening and temperature setting of air-conditioning in the range of 24-30 degrees Celsius. (AGENCY)