Bengal Book Fair hits roadblock again

PASSING HURDLES: Construction work for the Book Fair has been stalled by the Interim order of the High Court now.

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Keywords: Construction, High Court

Kolkata: Construction for the 32nd Kolkata Book Fair at the Maidan started late this year because of delay in permissions from the defense authorities. And it was stalled again by an interim order from the Calcutta High Court.

Responding to Public Interest Litigation, the court observed that organisers haven't procured necessary permissions from other statutory bodies.

"The court has passed an order to this extent that until permission is granted by the Calcutta Police, Municipal Corporation and the Pollution Control Board, the guild will not do any thing regarding the book fair,” says Petitioner's Lawyer, Kalyan Bandyopadhyay.

The fair is one of the biggest in the world in its category. It is built over an area of about 12-and-a-half lakh square feet and hosts about 900 bookstalls.

About two-and-a-half million people visit the fair every year where participants sell books worth about 20 crore rupees.

That is why the organisers are not at all willing to let things slip out of their hands.

"There must have been a communication gap somewhere. We have all the necessary permissions, but they weren't submitted before the court. We will submit them now and work should start immediately,” says General Secretary, Publishers and Booksellers Guild, Tridip Chaterjee.

A section of citizens have been vocal about the adverse environmental impact the fair has on the Maidan.

However, since all other fairs have already been stopped at this place, allegations of discrimination in favour of the book fair have also been leveled.

The fair enjoys the blessings of Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee. And Lok Sabha speaker Somnath Chatterjee too reportedly intervened to the get the Defense Ministry to budge, removing the roadblock this year.

One hurdle after the other is what the 32nd Kolkata Book Fair had to get past to get these few poles inserted in the Maidan.

However, the court’s interim is definitely the greatest hurdle. Even if fair organisers manage to take the court's leave by producing the necessary permission documents in the last minute, some valuable construction time would certainly be lost.