Visitors at Book Fair wear masks on Sunday to protect themselves from dust. Pictures by Sanat Kr. Sinha

Schoolteacher Swarupa Das returned heartbroken as there were no facilities for the physically challenged

Cans containing a fire-retardant solution lie unused

Lack of — and then the loss of — power supply has been in the spotlight so far at the Calcutta Book Fair. On Sunday, amid the crowd crush, the fair revealed many more warts...

Garbage gates

The 34th edition of the Calcutta Book Fair stinks. Just go by the garbage piled up between gates 4 and 5 to greet visitors. “I was standing in queue with some foreigners in front of me. I was feeling ashamed as a Calcuttan. When will we learn to get our basics right?” asked student Raya Debnath.

■ Guildspeak: “We are collecting the garbage from the ground and sending it to the Dhapa ground. Our men may have overlooked the garbage there (at the entrance). But we will remove it soon,” said Suprakash Basu, the vice-president of the Publishers and Booksellers Guild.

Fire fault

The book fair was devastated by fire in 1997, but going by the lackadaisical approach, no lessons have been learnt yet.

Milon Mela has a five lakh litre underground water reservoir, five water tanks, one water bouser and 40 fire officials, but a vital fire-fighting facility is missing.

Only 200 of the 650-odd stalls have signed up for the fire retardant solution spraying programme, admitted an official of the Bengal Fire Service and Engineers.

The participants blamed the non-participation on the “high fee” — Rs 2.75 per square feet for the safety spray.

A stall owner who has signed up said the guild should play enforcer, as the smallest fire can singe a large number of stalls.

■ Guildspeak: “All participants have to fill a form where it is mentioned that they must sign up for the programme. If the solution is not sprayed the stalls cannot claim insurance,” said Basu.

Water woes

Water tanks few and far between and most surrounded by slush, made it tough for the Sunday crowd to quench its thirst. “Why can’t the organisers at least dump some sand here and make the tanks accessible,” said Rana Dutta, a resident of Kasba.

■ Guildspeak: “We have tried our best by arranging for around 30 small water tanks,” said Basu.

Deadly dust

Handkerchiefs or masks became the uniform as the footfall rose on Sunday evening and the dust became unbearable. “The water is being sprayed only once in the afternoon,” said Gopal Aich, a participant.

■ Guildspeak: “We are not being able to sprinkle water more than once as there is very little room to manoeuvre with so many people coming in,” said Basu.

Physical barrier

Swarupa Das, a schoolteacher who had started from Burdwan early in the morning with her father and uncle for her first trip to the book fair, went back empty-handed and heartbroken.

“Nobody here is bothered about the physically challenged,” said the wheelchair-bound Das, 25, with few ramps in sight.

■ Guildspeak: “I apologise to all those who have faced this problem. I promise to request all the stall owners to make provisions for the physically challenged,” said Basu.