Visitors on the final day of the Patna Book Fair on Monday. Picture by Ranjeet Kumar Dey

The idea of organising Patna Book Fair in March every year can prove to be a loss-incurring prospect if figures of this year’s footfall are anything to go by. The facts came to the fore after the 12-day-long fair came to an end on Monday.

The officials put the visitors’ figure at 8 lakh, around 4 lakh less as compared to 2010. The organisers blamed the heat for the cold response. Chief minister Nitish Kumar had set March as the annual date for the book fair.

Although Gandhi Maidan, the venue of the fair, was popular with students and young couples, it did not generate good revenue this year, the organisers — Centre for Readership Development — said.

Around 273 publishers took part in this edition of the fair and 250 stalls were set up. Sources said the fair earned Rs 2 crore less than last time’s Rs 8 crore.

On the less footfall, Centre for Readership Development convener Amit Jha said: “We have been organising this book fair since 1985 and every time we hosted it in December. This is the first time we had to organise the fair in March. People normally avoid going out in the heat, while they love to visit fairs in winter.”

Nitish inaugurated the book fair on March 15, the same day he directed the organisers to host the fair on a fixed date. Jha added: “The heat was the main reason behind the poor footfall. Compared to last time’s 12 lakh, we received just 8 lakh visitors this year. Actually, we did not want to organise the fair in March but the state government asked us to do so because it coincided with the state’s centenary celebrations.”

The average temperature in the past 12 days was around 32-35°C, giving strength to the convener’s claim. While residents stayed away from the fair in the afternoon, the numbers would go up by evening. The weekends also saw a pleasant rush.

Bakarganj resident Ravi Dubey, who visited the fair on Monday, said: “It is unbearably hot and I do not think that standing over here (the fair) for more than a minute is wise. I must go home now. It would be better to come again in the evening once the temperature goes down.”

Forget the heat, some visitors failed to find books of their liking. Publications on social activist Anna Hazare did not find too many takers till the end of the fair. “We thought people would show interest in books on Hazare but very few turned up to buy them,” said an employee at Novelty Book Stall.