Balgandhava’s revamp plan hangs in balance as complaints galore

PUNE Prominent playwright Atul Pethe in a social media post has taunted the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) over the sad state of the Balgandharva auditorium saying that the Balgandharva Rangmandir should be renamed as ‘Abalgandharva Rangundir’, in a reference to the presence of rats in the auditorium

PUNE Prominent playwright Atul Pethe in a social media post has taunted the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) over the sad state of the Balgandharva auditorium saying that the Balgandharva Rangmandir should be renamed as ‘Abalgandharva Rangundir’, in a reference to the presence of rats in the auditorium.

After complaints regarding the lack of maintenance at Balgandharva auditorium, a staff member is seen sweeping the premise on Tuesday. (Ravindra Joshi/HT PHOTO)

Apparently, Pethe’s outburst has come in the wake of the presence of mosquitoes and unclean toilets at the prominent auditorium while he had a performance scheduled at the historic auditorium. There have been several such complaints coinciding with the debate over redevelopment of the Balgandharva auditorium as it hangs in balance due to the term of the municipal corporation having come to an end with the appointment of commissioner Vikram Kumar as administrator.

“On Monday, we had a show ‘Adlay Ka’and we experienced a barrage of mosquitoes. When the show attendees are paying Rs400 per ticket, the auditorium must be kept clean. The facilities within and conditions of the toilets are horrendous. It is impossible to go inside the toilets. It is a public place owned by the PMC and is considered one of the most famous theatres in the city. The maintenance is deliberately not being carried out as they want to demolish it and construct some commercial structure such as a mall. The mosquitoes were on the stage and even in the audience. The basic facilities are completely missing and maintenance is pathetic. The audience comes with a lot of love and we do theatre in very difficult situations but we still do it. It is a question of emotion, faith and your concern,” Pethe said over the phone on Wednesday.

Despite repeated attempts, PMC officials did not respond. Former standing committee chairman Hemant Rasane said, “I will look into the issue and will get it resolved.”

The PMC had earlier invited proposals from eight different architects for redevelopment of the cultural centre after conducting a series of talks with theatre personalities seeking their opinion for the aesthetic development of the place. However the PMC failed to go ahead with any of the proposals.

The PMC then appointed a committee of 21 members which include playwrights, filmmakers and litterateurs as office bearers and also experts in the field of arts. The committee sought proposals from architects for a new layout of the Balgandharva Rangmandir. One of these proposals was to be finalised and then work was scheduled to be started. For this, a preliminary provision of Rs10 crore was made in the budget for two consecutive years. However, the then ruling Bharatiya Janata Party did not move forward with the proposal as the city was hit by the corona wave.