Lalit Gupta
JAMMU, July 15: The sordid state of Abhinav Theatre, the premier public auditorium in the winter capital, which stand closed for the past five years for renovations, has furthered worsened due to recent flooding of its premises and the Artistes’ retiring and make-up rooms located in back basement of the building which also houses the makeshift Divisional Office of the Cultural Academy.
What has raised alarm bells about the stability of the Abhinav Theatre building is that the water from catchment areas and the municipal nullah that passes through its premises, which having seeped under the foundations of the edifice, erupted with great force like fountain in the basement (previously Art Gallery) by the side of the foyer where load bearing pillars supporting the auditorium are located.
The huge water overflow from the choked nullah, which girdles the inner boundary of the Abhinav Theatre Complex while inundating its sprawling lawns and parking area on June 29, 2015, also flooded the low-lying Academy offices, the reference library and the newly installed Air Conditioning Unit.
Talking to EXCELSIOR, Arvinder Singh Amn, Additional Secretary, Head of Academy’s Divisional Office, said that the water entered from the gate of the Air Conditioning Plant and in moments it rose to the height of about two-three feet. “Luckily the office was still functioning, and I along with all members of the staff entered the water logged library and other rooms and salvaged whatsoever was possible. But sadly the books stored in the lower shelves of the steel almihras got water logged. Some office records, electronic equipments and office furniture have also suffered damage”.
He said that main threat is the nullah which entering from the adjoining building side girdles the inside boundary of the premises and exists opposite to the GGM Science Collage gate. We have many times taken up the matter with UEED and apprised them as to how this nullah gets choked by the solid waste from the city and floods the Theatre Complex and thus posing danger to the very foundations of the building. He said since the Abhinav Theatre stands handed over to the PWD for renovations, we have written to its Civil, Mechanical and Electrical Divisions to take immediate remedial measures.
An employee of Academy while talking to EXCELSIOR and expressing anonymity said that in absence of original detailed sewerage plan of the complex which is constructed at the original site of a big old pond, it is very important to draw and implement a comprehensive plan to secure the Complex from frequent flooding. He said it could only be done by first diverting the present nullah to an alternate alignment outside the Abhinav Theatre Complex.
He further said the Art Gallery in basement adjacent to foyer which was very convenient exhibition space for local artists was closed down on the plea of water seepage somewhere around 2006. Instead of taking curative measures, Academy chose to shift its publication store. Now with underground water gushing out with great force and uprooting the big concrete floor slabs of the Art Gallery basement has not only threatened the very foundation of the Building but also damaged number of Academy old publications along with new and special numbers yet to be released.
The staff also informed that notwithstanding the agony that since forty years the Divisional Office Jammu is functioning, as a makeshift arrangement, in the dingy and musty interiors of the cubical spaces in the basement, it is looming threat to the very structural stability of the building that has worried the staff and also the artistes’ community who are eagerly awaiting the reopening of Abhinav Theatre.
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