The blackout at Book Fair this year. A Telegraph picture

The infrastructure hurdles that tripped the Book Fair are posing problems for a state government handicrafts fair starting at Milon Mela on Wednesday, with the authorities sitting on an upgrade plan.

A part of the fairground is yet to be levelled, toilet and drainage facilities have not been improved and safeguards are not in place against a power cut, which had hit the Book Fair.

“It would be wrong to expect a makeover in such a short span of time. We are still to get a stand-by transformer for Milon Mela and would have to depend on a diesel generator for the handicrafts fair,” said a senior official of the West Bengal Trade Promotion Organisation, which is responsible for the fairground infrastructure.

Acting on industry minister Nirupam Sen’s directive, the CEO of the West Bengal Industrial Development Corporation, the largest stakeholder in the trade promotion organisation, had suggested several steps, both long and short term, to make Milon Mela fit to host fairs. The stress of the report was on power management.

According to industrial development corporation sources, only cosmetic changes, such as repairs to the floors in the hangars, had been done since the Book Fair ended on February 7. “There are certain inadequacies but we hope our fair is a success,” said a member of the handicrafts fair organising committee.