Kolkata: College Street will host a ‘wet' book fair on Monday to support publishers and sellers who suffered huge losses in the deluge on Sept 23. The fair will run from 11 am to 8 pm on Bankim Chatterjee Street in front of the main gate of College Square and will feature around 30 stalls.
The total loss to Boi Para is estimated at around Rs 10 crore.
Maruf Hossain, president of Kolkata Creative Publishers Welfare Association, which organised the fair under the hashtag #CollegeStreetReliefFund, said the association used social media to crowd fund and raised Rs 4.1 lakh, including a Rs 2 lakh donation from The Bengal Association in New Delhi. On Nov 3 they will hand over cheques to 65 beneficiaries amounting to Rs 4,000 to Rs 8,000.
Shudrak Upadhyay, publisher of Itykatha Publication on Surya Sen Street, said, "The initiative is appreciable, at least small publication house like us will be able to make-up for some of the losses."
Narayan Chandra Ghosh (63), who has a bookshop at Tamer Lane, lost books worth around Rs 2.5 lakh when the area was waterlogged. "There was no previous forecast from the weather department and the stormwater was above my waist level," he said.
Sauranshu Sinha, general secretary of The Bengal Association, said, "It was painful for Bengalis living in Delhi tosee visuals of wet books in College Street and we instantly decided to support the cause." Around 20 Delhi-based Bengali cultural organisations extended their support.The fair was initially scheduled for Saturday but was postponed to Monday due to a rain forecast.
Hossain added, "We are expecting wet books of all kinds to be available for sale amounting Rs 20 lakhs," and the association will also buy books from the stalls worth Rs 60,000 for free distribution. On Nov 7 another initiative, #becheuthukboipara, will organise a similar sale of damaged books at The Bengal Theosophical Society.