Mumbai: Byculla theatre opens after a year, without ribbon cutting

Lokshahir Annabhau Sathe auditorium in Byculla

After waiting months for Chief Minister Eknath Shinde's appointment for inauguration and still getting none, the BMC finally opened Lokshahir Annabhau Sathe auditorium in Byculla last week. The first paid show was organised on the eve of International Women's Day.

After rebuilding what was once an open-air theatre, the developers handed over the new, 761-seater closed auditorium to the BMC in April. The then CM Uddhav Thackeray was supposed to inaugurate it in the last week of June, but the government changed that month and the BMC approached Shinde for a date. However, the civic body did not get a single appointment in the past eight months. It instead ended up spending lakhs of rupees on maintenance even as it waited for the CM to cut the ribbons.

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Sources said the decision to open the auditorium without a formal inauguration was taken by the top-level officials in the BMC, as ministers have very busy schedules.

"We have now started taking bookings for the auditorium. The first programme was organised on March 4 by the Lokshahir Annabhau Sathe committee, but it was free. The first paid cultural programme was organised on March 7, on the eve of International Women's Day, by a political party. A few programmes are lined up," a civic official said.