3 weeks ago
BMC to Consider Converting Alexandra Cinema Plot to Residential Use
The Alexandra Cinema was an old movie theatre in Mumbai, India.
It used to show Hollywood action movies and English reruns.
In 2007, it closed down and never opened again.
For almost twenty years, the building has sat empty and grown very old and unsafe.
The city had set aside its land for a cinema, but now it might change that rule.
Some people want the land to be used for new homes instead.
Other people from a local group want to keep it as a place for entertainment.
They are worried that families in the area will have nowhere to go for fun.
A city committee will talk about it this week and make a decision.
The BMC Improvement Committee will consider deleting the cinema reservation on the defunct Alexandra Cinema's 1,005-sq-m plot in Byculla-Nagpada and permitting residential use.
The cinema permanently shut in 2007 and its building has become severely dilapidated and structurally deteriorated after nearly two decades of disuse.
Maharashtra State Wakf Board representative Samir Gulamnabi Kazi sought the reservation's deletion from then Urban Development Minister Eknath Shinde on February 25, 2026.
Plot occupant Rafiq Patel applied to the BMC Development Planning Department for the land-use change on March 27, 2026.
The Kamathipura Vikas Samiti urged the BMC to retain the reservation, warning that conversion would deprive residents of recreational space amid a MHADA cluster redevelopment of around 34 acres in Kamathipura.
- Who
- The BMC Improvement Committee will decide; applications came from Maharashtra State Wakf Board representative Samir Gulamnabi Kazi and plot occupant Rafiq Patel, while the Kamathipura Vikas Samiti opposes the change.
- What
- Deleting the cinema reservation on the defunct Alexandra Cinema plot and permitting residential use.
- Where
- Byculla-Nagpada (Nagpada), Mumbai; the theatre stands at Versova Street and Jehangir Boman Behram Road.
- When
- The proposal is scheduled before the BMC Improvement Committee on Wednesday; applications were filed on February 25 and March 27, 2026, and the BMC report was prepared on April 6, 2026.
- Why
- The cinema permanently shut in 2007, the building is severely dilapidated and structurally deteriorated, and applicants sought a land-use change, while the committee wants to preserve recreational space.
Residential Conversion Supporters
Reservation Retention Advocates
Land use of the cinema plot
Residential Conversion Supporters
The BMC administration, following a recommendation from the state Urban Development Department and applications from the Maharashtra State Wakf Board and occupant Rafiq Patel, proposed deleting the cinema reservation and permitting residential use.
Reservation Retention Advocates
The Kamathipura Vikas Samiti, in a letter to the Municipal Commissioner, urged the BMC to retain the existing reservation and not permit residential conversion.
Impact on the local community
Residential Conversion Supporters
After nearly two decades of disuse and severe dilapidation, the change could pave the way for residential development on the strategically located plot.
Reservation Retention Advocates
The committee argued that changing the reservation would deprive local residents of an important recreational and entertainment space after the MHADA-led cluster redevelopment of about 34 acres in Kamathipura is completed.
Key facts
- Plot area
- 1,005 square metres
- Cinema closed
- 2007 (permanently)
- Current reservation
- Cinema (under Development Plan)
- Proposed use
- Residential
- Wakf Board application
- February 25, 2026 (Samir Gulamnabi Kazi)
- Occupant application
- March 27, 2026 (Rafiq Patel)
- Decision body
- BMC Improvement Committee (Wednesday)
- Opposition
- Kamathipura Vikas Samiti letter to Municipal Commissioner
Sources
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