Kolkata Book Fair: 48th edition sees more stalls, wider space, better connectivity
Telegraph | 3 February 2025
The 48th edition of the International Kolkata Book Fair in Salt Lake’s Karunamoyee has the highest number of stalls till now, a little above 1,000.
The fair organisers — Publishers and Booksellers Guild — say it is the highest they can accommodate at the venue, now christened Boi Mela Prangan.
The Telegraph lists some of the highs and lows from the first few days of the fair.
Layout
Two hangars, totalling nearly 4,000 square feet have been done away with this time. Instead, independent stalls have been allowed, even if in smaller sizes.
Officials of the Publishers and Booksellers Guild said the hangars — and the air-conditioning units attached to them —would eat up a significant part of the fairground.
The space that has been made available has helped create slightly wider walkways between the stalls — an increase of roughly a metre and a half.
The pathways no longer look cramped like before.
“This was a deliberate move to accommodate more stalls at the fairground, whose area is fixed. Smaller stalls, measuring less than 100 square feet, have come up this time giving publishers and booksellers an independent space they often look for,” said Sudhangshu Sekhar Dey, the guild’s general secretary.
Connectivity
Display boards with state-run buses for different directions have been hung prominently across the fairground, outside the gates and on roads skirting the Boi Mela Prangan venue.
This year, the availability of the bus services has been extended by an hour till 9pm — beginning 1pm — and counters have been set up with state officials to help visitors.
The biggest has come up at the Karunamoyee bus stand, adjoining the fairground. Smaller counters have been set up along the pavements to help visitors spot the bus on those routes they want to take for their return journey.
“Several shuttle buses are being operated on special routes catering to the demands of the book lovers who had complained about the availability of state buses at night,” a senior official of the transport department said.
“The buses are available at 9pm, an hour after the fair shuts officially and the routes cover almost all parts of the city and its suburbs, including Barasat, Barrackpore, Baruipur, Joka, Howrah, Bally and Santragachi.”
Filth and dust
If you want to breathe safely, use masks at the fairground. The dust keeps swirling around as the footfall increases from late afternoon. With scant green patches across the fairground and almost the entire space concretised with paver blocks, the dust hangs heavy in the air.
No water sprinklers are put to use at the fairground.
A water body at the rear end of the fairground has little or no impact. Several book lovers, including a few senior citizens, said they missed their face masks.
“We need water sprinklers to contain the dust. But if we could plant more trees around the fairground it would be nice,” Dey, who is also responsible for preparing the layout of stalls at the book fair, said.
“Even if the perimeter is covered with trees, it can make a difference,” he said.
Food stalls
The southwest corner of the fairground is mostly about food stalls. From noodles, puffs, fries and fritters to cha (tea) in earthen cups, the stalls serve almost everything you need to satiate your hunger.
But the floor here is uneven and poses risks, particularly if someone is trying to walk carrying plates and looking for a chair to settle down.
The garbage bins are getting filled up faster than they are being cleaned.
Layout maps
The guild has made arrangements where book lovers can scan acode to find the layout of the stalls.
Many visitors complained about the lack of physical maps printed on paper and distributed free at the fairground. A few said more space to sit around and examine physical maps would have made the fair better.
Unlike in previous years,mobile connectivity has improved. Lesser call drops have made it easier to call up someone and locate a bookstall of choice.