Park Circus Maidan has beaten back the book bazaar, but not the bazaar.

Days after Book Fair 2008 was ordered out of the greens, the civic body has firmed up its plans to temporarily relocate the traders of Park Circus market, to be reconstructed in a joint venture, on the maidan.

“Almost half the ground — the only open space in the congested locality — will be taken over by stalls. The damage to the greens will be huge,” admitted a civic official.

The Calcutta Municipal Corporation (CMC) on Friday decided to hand over Park Circus market to Reliance Retail this month for reconstruction. The decision follows a meeting between civic commissioner Alapan Bandyopadhyay and the general manager and sales coordinator (West Bengal) of Reliance Retail, Debashis Bose.

A civic official said work on setting up around 500 stalls, which will remain on the maidan for one-and-a-half-years, will start in March.

The 2,000-odd shop-owners will be relocated in phases. A batch of 500 will first move to the maidan and their stalls demolished and reconstructed. Once they return, the second batch will move out.

“Reliance has bagged the contract in an open bidding, quoting a price of Rs 30.33 crore. They have paid the amount,” said mayor Bikash Ranjan Bhattacharyya.

Local residents, who had fought against holding Book Fair 2008 on the maidan, are stumped by the civic body’s decision. “It’s like landing from the frying pan to the fire. The relocation will inflict greater damage to the greens than the fair,” said a resident.

Agreed green activist Subhas Dutta: “The construction of the stalls and the shrinking of the green space will result in a spurt in air pollution. Besides, such construction in a park is violation of the Town and Country Planning Act.”