On Thursday, the district administration of Rawalpindi identified dengue mosquito larvae in a cinema and two food outlets in Jinnah Park. They imposed a fine of Rs400,000 and directed the businesses to implement anti-dengue SOPs within a week.
The audience at Cinepax was taken by surprise when the cinema abruptly stopped the movie, announcing it was under a tax authority raid. The cinema management informed the crowd that ticket refunds would be processed on August 2 (Friday) and instructed them to exit the premises.
According to one of the individuals, who went to watch ‘The Glassworker’, the administration stopped the movie in the middle. He added that the cinema’s administration asked to vacate the hall immediately.
“It was shocking for everyone but later, the administration informed the audience that the hall was sealed by tax department,” he added.
Visitors reported that while the cinema was sealed and later unsealed, the food outlets were neither vacated nor sealed.
Surprisingly, a senior official from the Excise and Taxation Department stated that no team had visited Jinnah Park or the surrounding area on Thursday and claimed that any sealing of commercial outlets would have been done after issuing prior notices.
Assistant Commissioner Almas Sabeeh confirmed that the district administration team conducted the inspection of Jinnah Park, including Cinepax, Pappasallis, and KFC, as part of its anti-dengue campaign.
Sabeeh added that Cinepax was fined Rs100,000, while each of the two food outlets faced a Rs150,000 fine for not following anti-dengue measures. The cinema was sealed upon finding dengue larvae but was reopened after the administration paid the fine.
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