West Bengal: Kolkata book fair postponed to 28 February amid Covid surge
KOLKATA :
The organiser for International Kolkata Book Fair on Monday announced that the book fair had been postponed by a month, and that it has been slated to start from 28 February.
The book fair has Bangladesh as its theme country this year.
The organiser cited the surge in novel coronavirus cases in the state of West Bengal.
“The fair will be held for 12 days from February 28 as the Covid situation has not yet improved much and the Bidhannagar Municipal Corporation election is to be held on February 12,” President of Publishers and Book Sellers Guild Tridib Chatterjee said.
The decision was made after consultation with the state government, he added.
The book fair, an immensely popular event, will be held at Central Park in Bidhannagar, Kolkata, in North 24 Parganas district.
The book fair was earlier scheduled to be held from 31 January to 12 February after failing to take off in 2021 due to the pandemic.
“We hope the situation will be more conducive in end-February and March,” the Guild president said.
All guidelines of the state government would be complied with during the fair and each stall would be around 35% smaller for keeping more open space on the ground to avoid crowding, Chatterjee had said earlier.
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