New book fair site offers much less space

The book fair may shift by 2006 from the Maidan, which is in the heart of the city, to a location on the EM Bypass following recent directions by Calcutta High Court.

However, the Bypass location offered much less area.

The fair, at present, was spread over 8.5 lakh square feet (sq ft) while the new site had only 1.8 lakh square feet.

At the new location, it would be impossible to hold the fair in its current form, organisers of the fair warned here today.

The fair would be smaller and offer much less diversity and range. Thirty years old this year, the Kolkata book fair will begin on Tuesday and was expected to receive a record number of visitors at its present location on the Maidan.

The fair will be on till 4 February, 2005, said members of the Publishers & Booksellers Guild, organisers of the fair.

Guild office bearers said last year, the fair had around 2.2 million visitors but the number should rise this year because of higher interest levels. "It is perhaps the world's largest attended book fair," claimed Tridib Chattopadhyay, general secretary of the Publishers & Booksellers Guild.

Sribindu Bhattacharjee, convenor, seminar sub-committee, went further and said the guild expected the number of visitors by at least five per cent this year. The focal theme and partner country of this year's fair is France.

In keeping with the tradition of having the fair inaugurated by an eminent personality of the partner country, the fair would be inaugurated by Daniel Pennac, noted author, artist and critic. Spain would also be in the limelight. Foreign publishers from United Kingdom, Sweden, Italy and Bangladesh will put up stalls.

The fair would have 592 individual stalls, 8 pavilions, 12 foreign tents, 220 little magazine stalls and, for the first time, 31 information technology (IT) companies participating in the IT park, Chattopadhyay said.

To attract visitors, the guild would give away book gift coupons of different denomination ranging from Rs 12 to Rs 200. Last year sales at the fair was around Rs 18 crore.

Guild president Kalyan Shah refused to comment on possible sales this year as book prices had risen in the last 12 months. The fair's official banker, the United Bank of India, will put up automatic teller machines (ATM) in the fairground.

Oriental Insurance Co, the official insurer, will provide cover for every visitor worth Rs 50,000 for personal accident within the fair ground.