“Where do you wish to see Calcutta Book Fair 2009?”

— Publishers and Booksellers Guild

The murmurs of “no Maidan, no Book Fair” turned into a shout of defiance on Monday, with the organisers dismissing alternative venues and even threatening “legal action” if the bazaar was not allowed to return to the city’s gasping greens.

“There is no place in the city other than Maidan where such a huge cultural event can be held,” said Tridib Chatterjee, the general secretary of the guild.

In a written statement, the guild demanded “a permanent Book Fair site” on the Maidan to benefit publishers, sellers and 22 lakh visitors expected over 10 days of the book bazaar early in 2009.

“Why should we cut down the size of the venue? The Book Fair on the Maidan was held over 28 acres, while the free space available at Milon Mela (the proposed permanent fairground on the EM Bypass) is only five acres,” said Chatterjee.

In its pitch for a return to the Maidan, the guild also promised to don velvet gloves before delivering the blow on the greens by “maintaining the permanent Boi Mela Prangan (book fair site)”.

From promising to “plant trees, develop and maintain greenery in the demarcated area” to a “free park” for visitors to enjoy their “quota of oxygen”, the guild claimed it would ensure there was “no degradation of the environment” (see graphic).

This was rubbished by environmentalists battling to save the lungs of the city from a renewed assault. “It is impossible for the Book Fair not to harm the Maidan,” said green activist Subhas Dutta.

As for the guild’s green sops of “setting up fountains” and “putting in place leafy plants in flower pots” at the fairground, Dutta likened it to “giving a prescription after killing the patient”.

The forest department scoffed at the guild’s claim that it would abide by a comprehensive green plan to maintain the site. “This is not a joke. You cannot wake up one fine morning and decide to implement a green plan for such a vast area,” said a senior officer of the forest department.

The guild on Monday also turned on the government that has been pampering it in the name of “culture”.

“It was due to the state’s lack of farsightedness that the fair could not be held this year. If Milon Mela was, indeed, the chosen venue after Book Fair 2007 was evicted from the Maidan by Calcutta High Court, why did the state administration and the Calcutta Municipal Corporation agree on Park Circus Maidan as the venue for 2008?” demanded a guild official.

The government is now putting its might behind Book Fair 2008, a truncated version to be held at the Salt Lake stadium complex.

Minister for sports and youth affairs Subhas Chakraborty met representatives of four different publishing bodies, including the guild, on Monday and decided the composition of the steering committee for the fair.

Members from publishing bodies would keep bureaucrats from the sports and transport departments company in the committee, to be chaired by Chakraborty. A host of ministers would come on board as ‘advisers’, with chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee as chief patron.