RCB to reconstruct Odeon Cinema, preserve its old style

Published January 21, 2017
File photo of Odeon Cinema on The Mall.
File photo of Odeon Cinema on The Mall.

RAWALPINDI: The Rawalpindi Cantonment Board (RCB) has decided to work on a plan for the reconstruction of the centuries old Odeon Cinema on The Mall.

A senior RCB official told Dawn that an expression of interest has been called in this regard in order to collect proposals for how to preserve and renovate the old cinema house.

He said that after the expressions of interest are received, the trust will start working on reconstructing the old building so that its old style is maintained.


The board has also decided to ask PFA not to carry out food inspections in cantt areas


The Odeon Cinema, Shah Baloot Park, Cantonment Library and the RCB building are the property of Lansdowne Trust, which was established on Dec 5, 1891 by two Sikh brothers, Sardar Kirpal Singh Rai Bahadur and Sardar Sujan Singh Rai Bahadur.

The trust was established in the name of Lord Henry Petty Fitzmaurice, Marquees of Lansdowne, who was viceroy and governor general of India from 1884 to 1894 with the aim to construct and manage a cinema, library and park in the cantonment areas in order to provide educational and recreational facilities to the residents of Rawalpindi Cantt.

In 1897, the management committee of Lansdowne Trust was transferred to the then cantonment committee of British officials and since then, the trust has been managed by the RCB.

A meeting of the Lansdowne Trust was held on Friday with Station Commander Brigadier Hassan Raza in the chair. RCB Vice President, Malik Munir was appointed a new member of the trust and also attended the meeting.

“The trust wants to utilize the cinema building and earn money from it as employees of the Cantonment Library are facing problems,” a member of the trust told Dawn.

He said that the trust previously earned money by renting the building to the RCB, Chaklala Cantonment Board (CCB) and a branch of the National Bank. CCB has now moved its offices to its own building and National Bank also moved to another location, which means the trust cannot pay its employees their salaries on time, he added.

He said that for the time being, the trust has decided to rent out the old canteen on the premise of the Odeon Cinema and that it will allow stamp vendors and typists to run their businesses on the cinema premises.

RCB asks PFA to not interfere in Cantt areas

Meanwhile, during a meeting of its board on Friday, the RCB prepared a policy for the inspection of eateries by its food inspectors and asked the Punjab Food Authority (PFA) to not interfere in the Cantt areas in this regard.

The board decided to contact the Rawalpindi Divisional Commissioner to stop the PFA from conducting raids on food outlets in the Cantt areas under as the Pakistan Cantonment Pure Food Act 1966 clearly defines the limits of cantonment and city food inspectors.

According to RCB spokesperson Qaiser Mehmood, it was decided that the PFA will not be allowed to carry out operations against food outlets involved in selling food which is not fit for human consumption and that the RCB will launch such operations itself.

He said that during the meeting, the issue of the collection of property tax and water charges from defaulters was also discussed and that tax departments have been asked to speed up their campaigns so that the civic body’s revenue increases.

Elected members also approved building plan applications for domestic and commercial units.

Mr Mehmood said the board approved expenditures for staff and gave its approval to the accounts department for paying RCB officials’ claims for spending money on medical treatment according to the law.

The issue of sanitation was also raised by elected members and the board decided to hire heavy machinery on rent for dredging nullahs and drains in Adra, Azizabad and Mughalabad. The sanitation branch was directed to complete the task before the start of monsoon.

The spokesperson said that elected and official members allowed the renewal of contracts for those doctors and teachers who were working on adhoc basis.

The meeting was informed that DG Military Lands and Cantonments had imposed a ban on new jobs in hospitals and schools till the completion of new education and health projects.

A social welfare organisation also got permission from the board to set up a free of cost meal camp for the distribution of food among deserving people at Gowalmandi after verifying the organisation’s details.

Station Commander Brigadier Hassan Raza chaired the meeting which was also attended by Cantonment Executive Officer Dr Saima Shah, Vice President Malik Munir Ahmed and other public elected members including Malik Sajid Mehmood, Muhammad Shafique, Haji Zafar Iqbal, Malik Mansoor Afsar, Arshad Qureshi, Raja Jahandad Khan, Hafiz Hussain Ahmed, Shahid Mughal and Yousaf Gill.

Published in Dawn, January 21st, 2017

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