Owners of the iconic twin theatres resume demolition after BMC’s notice warning of a mishap during the monsoon; it has been on the list of dilapidated buildings since 2008
Yogesh Naik (MUMBAI MIRROR; August 15, 2020)

The owners of the Ganga Jamuna Talkies in Tardeo resumed its demolition on Friday. Shut for the past 18 years, the iconic twin theatres have been on the BMC’s list of dilapidated buildings since 2008. The demolition of the building began in December 2019 but was discontinued twice due to a shortage of labour. It restarted in March but had to be halted due to the lockdown.

Assistant commissioner of D-Ward Prashant Gaikwad confirmed that the dilapidated structure was declared dangerous last year. “We reissued the notice in July as the structure is in extremely bad condition. We have told the owners to demolish it within a month and said they would be responsible in case of a mishap,” he said.

The owner of the theatres, Gul Achhra said the building was to be demolished and redeveloped into a multiplex in 2008. He said, “We were asked to make an eight-storeyed building with mini theatres and basement parking as per the development control rules, but we don’t want to construct a theatre again.”

A famous landmark, the Ganga Jamuna Talkies have seen many superstars on the red carpet for the premieres of classic Hindi films such as Ganga Ki Saugandh, Dulhan Wahi Jo Piya Man Bhaye, Kaalia, Don, Mr Natwarlal and Hero.

Acchra said while Ganga had around 1,000 seats, Jamuna had 850 seats. “There was a time when standalone cinemas did good business. However, with the rise of digital media, there is hardly any scope. The world is moving fast. Within years, we have moved from cable television to movies on smartphones,” said Acchra, adding that he hasn’t decided if he would construct a commercial or a residential complex here. He said the theatres will be razed by November-end and hopes that they will remain a part of living memory.

A junior engineer from D-Ward said the owners were issued several notices. “Now pieces of plaster had started falling down. It was being viewed as dangerous due to the recent heavy rainfall. We told them that action would be initiated if demolition didn’t start soon,” he said.

Jitendra Narvekar, a resident of Goa who spent his childhood in Mumbai, remembers watching films like Don, Mr Natwarlal, Suhaag and Chashme Baddor at Ganga Jamuna. “We used to stand in a queue on Monday to book a ticket for the first show on Friday. I used to pay Rs 1.10 for the lower stall or Rs 2.20 for the per upper stall. The balcony ticket cost Rs 3.30 and the dress circle used to cost Rs 4.40 in the late 1970s and the early 1980s,” said Narvekar, feeling sad hearing about the demolition.

Over the years, several single screen cinemas in the city have downed their shutters due to a steady drop in footfall. While some like Chitra in Dadar is being redeveloped as a mini multiplex, others like Sharada Cinema, a property of Mumbai Granth Sangrahalya, has been in disrepair for many years now.
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That ’70s Show

THE TIMES OF INDIA (August 17, 2020)

Ganga-Jamuna, the twin single-screen theatre complex at Tardeo, which is currently being demolished, was once a landmark cinema house and an important cultural destination, especially for those who grew up in this neighbourhood. In the 1970s and ’80s, some of the biggest Bollywood blockbusters were first released here, including many of superstar Amitabh Bachchan’s hits. The matinee shows were extremely popular too, where at times Soviet films with subtitles were screened. Imran Furniturewala, whose grandfather Zakaria Aghadi built Ganga-Jamuna, says the complex was inaugurated in 1971 in the presence of the then Maharashtra governor Ali Yavar Jung. On that day, the movie ‘Dushman’ premiered at the theatre.

Imran writes: “It was my grandfather’s system to hold a premiere of a big film and invite the main actors. In those days, actors didn’t have the visibility among the public as they do today, so they used to happily come.” The premieres were attended by superstars such as Mumtaz, Dilip Kumar and Rajesh Khanna. Ganga-Jamuna shut almost 20 years ago when single-screen theatres became financially unviable. The iconic Diana theatre at Tardeo and Minerva at Grant Road were among the many others that shut. Gul Achhra, the current owner of the Ganga-Jamuna property, says the complex is being razed since the BMC recently declared it as dilapidated.

Bollywood bad man, whose stock has been steadily rising, to be hit with civic violation notice after converting residential property in Juhu into six-storey hotel
Chetna Yerunkar (MID-DAY; January 26, 2019)

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) is mulling initiating action against actor Sonu Sood for operating a residential hotel in Juhu despite not receiving clearances from the civic body. The actor has, however, said that he is "not doing anything illegally", and the regularisation of the property in Shiv Sagar building for use as a residential hotel was under process.

BMC officials confirmed on Thursday that Sood had not yet complied with all its norms to operate a lodging and boarding facility in Shiv Sagar building in Juhu. "We have still not received an amended proposal for the property following our remarks on the initial proposal," said an official of the BMC's Building and Proposal Department.

Sood had in June 2018 made a proposal to the BP Department of BMC's K-West ward office for allowing him to convert the residential premise into a lodging and boarding facility. However, the proposal was returned by the BMC in September 2018 demanding complete compliance with its norms. The amended proposal is, however, yet to be submitted by the actor. This is also evident on the official website of the civic body that tracks such proposals.

The premises were inspected by K-West ward officials on Thursday to verify the complaints and an official, on the condition of anonymity, confirmed that the lodging facility was being operated without legal licences and thus a prosecution against the actor would be initiated soon. Following Sood's proposal, the assistant engineer of BP department in September 2018 had given it a 'technical rejection', with remarks reading: "By direction, please comply instructions dated 24/09/ 2018 in proposal flow given by EEBPK and resubmit."

The building is used to operate a residential hotel without the necessary permissions, activists alleged

Instructions of the EEBP
The Executive Engineer of the Building Proposal (EEBP) department K ward mentioned that the proposal is returned due to the following reasons: (1) Survey remarks required to check road widening/setback if any, (2) Toilets are proposed in existing balconies, (3) Parking requirement and free of FSI component is as per an earlier approval for residential buildings and should be as per DCR 1967 and (4) Directives of Honorable Court for dumping must be followed.

Officials of the BP department on Friday said that they haven't received any amended proposal yet. A senior officer of the department, who did not wish to be named, said, "We had asked for compliance of several aspects pertaining to fire safety, FSI consumption and parking requirement details among others. The plot also falls under the Coastal Regulation Zone but has been approved according to the DCR 1967 (Development Control Regulations). It is definitely not something that cannot be regularised but the fresh amendments to the proposal must be made and resubmitted for approvals. According to our records, it hasn't reached us yet."

A senior civic official from K-West ward added that to run such a business, "permissions and licences from the health department are needed, which were clearly found missing during inspection." Prashant Gaikwad, the assistant municipal commissioner of K-West ward, was unavailable for comment.


'Always follow protocol'
Sonu Sood, however, maintained that he has the fire compliance in place. "I also have the necessary shops and establishment licences with me and the regularisation is already under process. There are a few more documents that the BMC needs and my architect will provide them shortly. Since it is an old building, a lot of paperwork is involved. I have been supporting the BMC and recently even got the garbage cleared from a nearby place which was turned into a dumping yard," Sood said.

"I have always followed due protocol and do things according to the rules. A miscellaneous proposal for regularisation of the restaurant is submitted to Building Proposal Bandra West MCGM under section 342. The Chief Fire Officer has also given his NOC. All relevant documents required for approval have been submitted and the proposal for regularisation is under scrutiny at the competent authority," Sood insisted.

Rooms available on websites
Civic activist Ganesh Kusumulu, who had complained to the BMC regarding this issue, said that "various violations are taking place inside this building and the K-West ward is not taking any prompt action." Kusumbu also claimed that the hotel rooms are available on several hotel booking websites for under the name 'Hotel Shakti Sagar', despite "not having its licences in place."

Months after wife tweeted how people defecating in the open ruined her morning walks, Akshay Kumar funds bio-toilets at Juhu beach; teams up with Shiv Sena leader Aaditya Thackeray to install the toilets. Spends about Rs 10 lakh on the loos
Chaitanya Marpakwar (MUMBAI MIRROR; April 3, 2018)

Eight months after actor-turned-author Twinkle Khanna got trolled for tweeting how people defecating in the open ruined her morning walks, a row of bio-toilets funded by her husband, superstar Akshay Kumar, were opened for public use on Juhu beach. Twinkle’s tweet -- “Good morning and I guess here is the first scene of Toilet Ek Prem Katha part 2 #WhenYourWalkGoesDownTheToilet” – in August last year was liked and retweeted several hundreds of times. But it was also criticized for insensitivity towards slum-dwellers who have no choice but to use the beach as a toilet in the absence of public loos.

While Twinkle, who boasts of 31.2 lakh followers on Twitter, had subsequently tweeted that a public toilet was located just minutes away from the spot where she photographed a man defecating, the BMC on Monday said even the toilets sponsored by her husband will only partly solve the problem and that three or four more such toilets will have to be installed to make Juhu and Versova beaches open defecation free.

BMC officials said that Akshay teamed up with Shiv Sena leader Aaditya Thackeray for installing the toilets and spent around Rs 10 lakh. The toilet has six seats, three each for men and women, and a separate row of urinals. “The toilets have bio-digester so there will be no stink. The toilets will bring a lot of relief to not just the local slum dwellers, but also to visitors,” said Assistant Municipal Commissioner, K-West ward, Prashant Gaikwad. At the moment, there is only one public toilet at the main entry of the 6 km beach.

The BMC last year launched a campaign to eradicate open defecation and the Quality Council of India on July 6 declared the city ‘open defecation-free’. However, it’s clear that it was a misleading tag and that open defecation remains a problem in the city. Akshay last year co-produced and acted in a movie titled Toilet - Ek Prem Katha. The movie, also starring Bhumi Pednekar addressed the problem of open defecation, especially in rural areas, and won the lead actors a lot of acclaim.

According to the data available with the municipal corporation, there were 117 major open defecation spots in the city. Most of these spots were located in plots owned by government departments and agencies. The BMC claims that most of these open defecation spots have been dealt with.

According to the Swachh Bharat Mission guidelines, there should be a toilet seat for every 30 users. Based on this calculation, the city needs around 1.36 lakh toilet seats to cater to the 63 per cent of its population living in slums. Mumbai is 60,000 toilet seats short of this target.