Prayagraj: Theatres, water parks stare at uncertain future as second wave dashes hopes

PRAYAGRAJ: The Covid-19 pandemic has adversely affected the economy, which was showing signs of recovery before the devastating second wave of the novel coronavirus. One of the industries among many to face the brunt of this pandemic is the entertainment industry. Given the near-complete shutdown of the cinema halls for months together, multiplexes or for that matter amenities like the water parks of the city have suffered enormous losses because of which many are contemplating closing down their businesses permanently.
If the cinema owners of the city including single screen and multiplexes are to be believed, the income generated from this industry in the district alone is in crores. Along with the income of the cinema owners, the tax revenue to the government from this industry, in the form of entertainment tax, is also in crores. According to a rough estimate, the loss to the government exchequer in terms of the tax that could have been collected by the entertainment department in the last 14 months is around Rs 25 crores.
The highest-earning month by the cinema halls and the other entertainment facilities like water park is considered to be from the last week of March to June. This is the time that people flock to theatres because of children’s holidays because of the summer vacations. Last year too, because of the first wave of the novel coronavirus, people had to stay indoors after the countrywide lockdown, thereby resulting in loss to the industry. Even though the different phases of unlocking began from June 2020, theatres remained closed.
Those in the entertainment industry are facing a similar situation this year too as the country continues to fight the second wave of the pandemic, which has caused a huge loss of lives and livelihoods. “Even if cinema halls are opened in the coming time, say by the end of this month, it will be opened only under certain restrictions like the last year. In such a situation, there is still no possibility of making up for the losses”, said the secretary of the Indian Cinema Exhibitors Federation, Ashutosh Aggarwal.
This year, during March beginning, there was some relief when around 25-30 per cent of the income had started coming back. It was expected that more relief would come by April and May, but given the weekly closure in April due to the deadly second wave, following which more restrictions were put in place to check the surge in cases, theatres remained closed and now the problem remains, he added.
Likewise, there are two water parks in and around the district, one at Sahason and another a few kilometres away from the civil enclave in Bamrauli. April, May and June are the months when most people visit these entertainment parks. However, because of the restrictions, these parks were not functional for even a single day in almost two years. At the same time, the swimming pools of the city were also completely closed.
“The entertainment market has suffered a lot and the government is at loss too as because of the pandemic, the cinema halls are closed and hence the collection of tax is affected," said Assistant Entertainment Tax Commissioner, Arvind Verma. More importantly, many employees are directly or indirectly associated with this business of entertainment and they suffered a lot financially because of the pandemic, he added.