The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation has proposed to delete the cinema hall reservation of the site at which once stood Satyam, Sachinam and Sundaram cinema halls at Worli in Bombay. The present owner applied for the deletion. The BMC has even received objections from the public for the proposed deletion.
The current owner has said that there are other cinema halls like PVR in Phoenix Mall and Inox in Atria Mall in the locality, and hence deleting the triple cinema cluster from the reservation list will have minimal impact on the public. The triple cinemas are closed since 2001 while the building was demolished in 2010.
According to the BMC, the deletion in reservation was requested by Grasim Industries Ltd. which is a lessee for 50% share of the said plot leased out by the BMC. It made a representation on June 28 to “delete the Existing Amenity of Cinema Theatre shown in Sanctioned Development Plan 2034 on said plot. The civic body last month invited objections or suggestions regarding the proposed modification to be addressed to the office of the Chief Engineer (Development Plan). The current approved plans for the plot include two proposed theatres with full CC issued. However, no occupation certificate has been granted as yet.
The BMC said, it had initiated the deletion process for the designated theatre amenity, covering 4,603.13 sq. metres or 1.1 acre on the specified plot. This change has been sanctioned through an Improvement Committee Resolution dated September 23 and Corporation Resolution dated October 3 under section 37(1) of the MRTP Act, 1966. However, the civic body has received a handful of objections to the plan. Among them, one person has pointed out that cinema halls like PVR and Inox are too far and economically unaffordable for the common Marathi manoos. Adding that nearby cinemas like Geeta, Prakash and Lotus too have closed down, he has urged that the site’s reservation status for cinema hall be left unchanged, and Satyam, Sundaram and Sachinam be revived, and priority be accorded to screening Marathi films in this locality as the area was dominated by 70% Maharashtrian residents who had few options for entertainment.
(Picture for representational purpose only)