EAT STREET: Food plates and leftovers lie strewn on the Book Fair grounds. A Telegraph picture

Rattled by cries from various quarters against the plundering of the Maidan by fairs and rallies, the organisers of Calcutta Book Fair have planned significant steps to minimise the damage to the greens this year.

For one, the succulent kebabs, pan-fried chow mein and chicken drumsticks will be in short supply at the fair, starting January 24. The Publishers and Booksellers Guild, the organisers of the Calcutta Book Fair, has resolved to allow only half the usual number of food stalls at the fair to curb the amount of refuse produced by them.

?We have decided to cut down on the number of stalls selling food items to ensure that the fair ground is not littered too much. The squalor gives the visitors a bad impression. This year, one of our thrust areas will be waste management,? elaborated Tridib Kumar Chatterjee, honorary general secretary of the Calcutta Book Fair.

Sources claimed that the organisers have also decided to charge 10 per cent of the booking amount as ?caution fee? from the food stall-owners. In case they fail to set up and maintain garbage bins, and clear the area near the stall from time to time, the security money would be forfeited.

?This time, about 200 apron-clad volunteers will tour the fair premises every day to collect items discarded by visitors and stalls and dump them in nearby bins or vats. Apart from that, there will also be cleaners armed with brooms to keep the place free of filth,? said an official of the Guild.

Besides, for the first time, the fair organisers are planning to plant grass in the most damaged parts of the 900,000 sq ft area once the fair wraps up. Water sprinklers will be placed at strategic points throughout the vast expanse and even outside the fair premises to tackle the problem of excess dust suspended in the air.

?We are not making tall promises. But we are almost ready with a plan to weave grass on the stretches of the Maidan that are found most damaged by the fair,? Chatterjee added.

After a stock-taking exercise last year, the Book Fair organisers realised that most of the total litter on the fair premises was from the vicinity of the stalls where visitors stopped for a quick munch.

While the stalls were not adequately equipped to handle the waste, even a section of book-lovers cared little to throw the plastic and earthen cups, and paper plates into the bins.