KOLKATA: Chief minister Mamata Banerjee is scheduled to inaugurate the 46th International Kolkata Book Fair 2023 at 2pm on Monday at Salt Lake’s Central Park fair ground, which has been named ‘Boi Mela Prangan’.
“Last year we had 23 lakh visitors, and books worth Rs 23 crore were sold. We are expecting more this year,” said Publishers and Booksellers Guild general secretary Tridib Chatterjee. There are arrangements to live-stream all events, Chatterjee added.
Spain being the theme country this year, there will be a high-level delegation during the inauguration. Jose Maria Ridao Dominguez, Spain’s ambassador to India; Maria Jose Galvez Salvador, director general for books of Ministry of Culture and Sports of Spain, and Luis Garcia Montero, director of Instituto Cervantes will be present at the programme.
The chief minister will also hold the cabinet meeting for the first time at Unnayan Bhavan, located opposite the fair ground, before inaugurating the book fair. The Karunamoyee ‘office para’ has been decked up for the twin events. The service road in front of Unnayan Bhavan has been relaid with fresh bitumen, and the space in front of the fair ground has been spruced up with decorations and lights. There will be tight security in Karunamoyee and Central Park.
With around 950 stalls, the highest participation ever, along with increased connectivity from across the city and beyond, this book fair is expected to break footfall and book sale records.
Government agencies and Bidhannagar Municipal Corporation (BMC) have come up with plans and amenities for visitors. For the first time, the book fair ground will have direct Metro connectivity from Sealdah, with two stations at Karunamoyee and Central Park catering to guests. Metro services will run on both Sundays during the book fair.
The transport department has come up with plans to operate additional bus services on several routes daily from 3pm to 9pm. Officials said there will be a minimum of three buses on each route. Long-distance buses to the book fair venue will operate from Jhargram, Midnapore, Asansol and Durgapur. There will also be shuttle services from Sealdah, Kamalgazi, Tollygunge and Dunlop. To accommodate extra buses, the premises adjacent to Mayukh Bhavan will be used to reduce parking pressure at Karunamoyee bus terminus.
BMC will look after disposing the daily waste from the fair ground, along with sweeping and cleaning the area twice a day. The authorities are also sprucing up the roads around the venue.
Source: https://news.google.com/__i/rss/rd/articles/CBMikgFodHRwczovL20udGltZXNvZmluZGlhLmNvbS9jaXR5L2tvbGthdGEvY20tbWFtYXRhLWJhbmVyamVlLXRvLW9wZW4ta29sa2F0YS1ib29rLWZhaXItdG9kYXktYWxsLWV2ZW50cy10by1iZS1saXZlLXN0cmVhbWVkL2FydGljbGVzaG93Lzk3NDI5NTQ2LmNtc9IBlgFodHRwczovL20udGltZXNvZmluZGlhLmNvbS9jaXR5L2tvbGthdGEvY20tbWFtYXRhLWJhbmVyamVlLXRvLW9wZW4ta29sa2F0YS1ib29rLWZhaXItdG9kYXktYWxsLWV2ZW50cy10by1iZS1saXZlLXN0cmVhbWVkL2FtcF9hcnRpY2xlc2hvdy85NzQyOTU0Ni5jbXM?oc=5
