The book sellers in Kolkata are a harassed lot. Ever since the annual Kolkata book fair was shifted out of the centrally-located Maidan grounds in 2006, they have been unable to participate in the fair and have also been unable to recover the losses of around Rs 17 lakh suffered in 2007-08. The loss was incurred after the fair ground was shifted to Salt Lake stadium.
The latest issue before the book sellers is the demand by the West Bengal industries department of Rs 1.5 crore as rent for the new venue, the Milan Mela grounds. Milan Mela has a number of permanent structures, electricity and water supply.
According to Tridib Chatterjee, president, Publishers and Bookselleres Guild: “We hope the government will consider our plea to reduce rent. But if that does not happen, then we will have to run the show at a loss till we cannot do it any more.”
According to a medium-sized publisher who requested anonymity: “We cannot afford to pay Rs 1.5 crore after the losses in 2008.” The Kolkata Book Fair is the second largest in the world after Frankfurt and used to do a business of at least Rs 14 crore every year with 2.2 million visitors at the Maidan grounds in central Kolkata. According to the Publishers & Booksellers Guild, which hosts the fair every year, of the 800 stalls set up every year, about 650 stalls are by Kolkata-based small and medium Bengali book publishers. Each of these publishers used to do a business of close to Rs 3.8 lakh during the 10 days of the fair held at the centrally located Maidan for 31 years.
At the Maidan, a non-AC hanger used to cost Rs 95,000 daily, Rs 10,000 for administrative building, Rs 40,000 for open space, and Rs 10,000 for open-air theatre daily. Book Fair 2009, if held off the bypass on Milan Mela grounds, will be spread over 17.6 acres.
The old Maidan offered the organisers an area of 23 acres and that too without charging any rent. The only payments the Guild made for hosting the fair were to the police, CESC and the Kolkata Municipal Corporation. According to the Guild, small and medium publishers are not in a position to spend huge amounts for setting up stalls at that too at the time of recession.
The Milan Mela grounds, which was supposed to have been redone for an estimated cost of Rs 48 crore by the West Bengal Industrial Development Corporation (WBIDC) and Ahluwalia Contracts India Limited as the contractor, is still not ready. Work on the interior of the fourth building is still on, while the ground is still uneven.
Though planned way back in 2003, work on constructing the Milan Mela ground started in 2006, with an 18-month deadline. But work is still on as of December 2008 and authorities are yet to set up a designated parking area inside the complex.
The present parking area can accommodate a maximum of 200 vehicles, while Kolkata Book Fair witnesses 2.2 million visitors every year. According to plans, the ground will be set up in two phases. Work on the first phase is almost complete with the construction of four decorative halls having a combined floor area of about 4,400 square metre.
Officials said work is delayed as small fairs are held there every year. According to a publisher who requested anonymity: “In 2007, when the book fair was shifted from Maidan for the first time and held at Salt Lake, I made a sale of only Rs 48,000 in 10 days as against Rs 4 lakh that I used to when the fair used to be held at the Maidan. According to another publisher, “Irrespective of the venue, the cost of setting up a stall and electricity bills remain the same. So a drop in sales really hurt.”
Most small and medium publishers take up stalls that range from 12 sq metre to 40 sq metre. According to the publishers, setting up a book stall would cost around Rs 60 per sq metres.
According to a small-scale publisher, “I sell Bengali recipe books at the book fair. Since most buyers who visit the book fair are impulsive, these recipe books sell mainly during the 10 days, after which, buyers often don’t even look for one. So a proper venue is very important for visibility and sale.”
The Kolkata Book Fair was shifted from the Maidan area in 2007 as the High Court felt that it was causing environmental pollution. The fair at the Maidan faced a legal challenge from some environmental activists, who managed to get it shifted to Salt Lake in 2007. The High Court had cancelled the Book Fair on Park Circus Maidan and directed the Guild to restore Park Circus to its original condition and hand it back to KMC at the earliest.
The bench issued the order in response to a PIL filed by local residents of Park Circus who pleaded that the fair and its visitors in the densely populated residential area, housing several schools and colleges and two important hospitals, would violate the Pollution Act, Environment Protection Act and Noise Pollution Act.
