Puri's oldest, last remaining cinema hall razed to ground

Sri Krushna Cinema Hall, the oldest and the last remaining theatre of the pilgrim town Puri was razed to ground on Monday.

The cinema hall, which was located behind the Shree Jagannath Temple Administration (SJTA) office, was demolished as part of the ambitious Parikrama Project or the Srimandir Heritage Corridor Project.

According to sources, the cinema hall which was just 100 metres away from the Srimandir was built over the land that belongs to the SJTA.

Meanwhile, the Puri sub collector has said necessary compensation was provided to the cinema hall owner before its demolition.

“The demolition of Sri Krushna Cinema Hall began today. One platoon force, executive magistrate and fire services team have been deployed at the eviction site. I hope the demolition work will be completed in a day or two,” said Bhabatarana Sahu, Puri sub-collector.

“Due compensation has been provided to the theatre owner. The land will be used in the Srimandir Heritage Corridor Project,” Sahu added.

There were five cinema halls in Puri. But after cyclone Fani, all except Sri Krushna Cinema hall, had brought their curtains down. 

Now with the demolition of the Sri Krushna Cinema hall, there will be no movie theatres left in the pilgrim town.

(Reported by Madhusudan Mishra, OTV)