Amid confusion over parallel book fairs in town, the Publishers and Booksellers Guild kicked off preparations for Calcutta Book Fair 2007 on the Salt Lake Stadium grounds on Sunday. Twenty-six decorators were pressed into service.

The day started with a meeting, chaired by the state transport minister Subhas Chakraborty, on the stadium grounds.

The Guild brass, police, sports department officials and representatives of Bidhannagar Municipality finalised the blueprint of the 12-day fair, starting February 10.

“We will formally hand over a copy of the plan and other documents to the district police tomorrow morning,” said Guild general secretary Tridib Chattopadhyay.

Besides clearing the decks for a flawless event at the stadium, the Guild officials are also trying to convince the Bangiya Prakashak O Pustak Bikreta Sabha to abandon its plans of holding another book fair on coinciding dates.

“It would have made perfect sense if the Sabha sat for another round of discussions with us and the misgivings were addressed. We will still try to resolve the issue for the sake of the Book Fair,” added Chatterjee.