Identify lanes for cycling: UDMA to civic bodies
At places like New Town, there are existing cycle lanes spanning over a stretch of around 35km under the New Town Kolkata Development Authority.
The Publishers and Booksellers Guild today informed that the Urban Development and Municipal Affairs (UDMA) department of the state government has confirmed that the temporary trade license fee charged by Bidhannagar Municipal Corporation (BMC) to all the participants of the International Kolkata Book Fair, including little magazines, has been waived off.
The Guild said that the UDMA minister, Chandrima Bhattacharya, has confirmed this and assured that that all those publishers and little magazines that have already paid the trade licenses, will be able to claim a refund of their payment for the same from the BMC.
Tridib Kumar Chattopadhyay, general secretary, and Sudhangsu Sekhar Dey, president of the Guild, mentioned that all publishers and little magazine editors feel encouraged by this decision of the state government since the pandemic times have caused enough losses for the sector and hence the state government’s decision comes as a blessing.
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The guild members also highlighted that since the state government has sent them the official approval for renaming the venue Central Park as ‘Boi Mela Prangan’, as proposed by the chief minister Mamata Banerjee, it has been decided for the rest of the year, book bazaars will be frequently organised here where anyone can buy and sell collection of books, be it first or second hand. “We are confident that this will draw many youths.”
The Guild also said that the book fair registered a footfall of six lakhs on Saturday while also highlighted that this year, the most remarkable feature has been an increase in the sale of books in the fair which earlier had seen a slump despite a good footfall. Mr Chattopadhyay said, this shows that interest in books has gone up among the people after the onslaught of pandemic. “We did not expect such a good sale but this is assuring. People should take up reading as a habit and even could gift them to someone” he said.
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