A fair is being organised on the Maidan for the first time since 2007, when the high court had ordered the shift of the book fair to protect the greens, courtesy a clearance from the ministry of defence.

The International Society for Krishna Consciousness (Iskcon) has started erecting stalls on the Maidan after the nod from Delhi to hold a Rath Yatra mela from July 3 to July 11.

“We wrote to defence minister A.K. Anthony for permission to hold the fair on the Maidan some time back and got the clearance from the land wing of his ministry about three weeks back,” said Radharaman Das, a spokesperson for Iskcon.

According to sources, the local army authorities — who had publicly expressed their stand against any fair on the Maidan several times — had to provide a no-objection certificate for the fair since Delhi had given its consent.

“We had requested the local army authorities for the Gangasagar mela ground (where the Rath Yatra mela was held last year) but they refused citing construction activities. When we requested for the Brigade Parade Ground, they said it was beyond them to give such a permission and instead offered the Shahid Minar ground, which is not big enough,” said Das.

“The clearance came from Delhi,” said a representative of the local army authorities. A source said the ministry provided the clearance despite the local authorities voicing their objection.

Even the CMC refused Iskcon use of the Park Circus ground to prevent damage. “We spent Rs 3.5 crore on the Park Circus Maidan. How can we allow the ground to be damaged?” said Debasish Kumar, mayoral council member (park and gardens).

On Wednesday, Metro found the mela venue dug up in places and plastic cups lying around on the greens. Ten sprawling pandals, including an AC one, and several stalls are being constructed. Nearly 25ft to 30ft high lamp posts are being erected. Temporary toilets will also come up.

“We expect at least 1 lakh people to visit the fair and are making arrangements accordingly,” said Gouranga Smaran Das, who was overseeing arrangements.

“There will be significant damage to the greens as well as to the overall environment if the fair is held,” said environment activist Subhas Datta, on whose petition the book fair was shifted from the Maidan.

Datta wrote to the defence minister on Wednesday, demanding the Iskcon fair be moved from the Maidan.

In 2007, the Publishers and Booksellers Guild had taken the Delhi route bypassing the local army authorities to obtain permission to hold the book fair on the Maidan but the high court refused to allow it.