This year’s Kolkata book fair, set to be inaugurated on Thursday, aims to turn greener.
The 47th International Kolkata Book Fair, among the largest book fairs in terms of number of visitors, is looking to become more environment friendly as its organisers are emphasising on the usage of jute bags on a larger scale.
“This time we have emphasised on using jute bags on a larger scale. In order to encourage book lovers to use jute bags to carry the books they buy, we have allotted many stalls, sponsored by the National Jute Board to sell different sizes of jute bags, at different places inside the fairground. More usage of jute bags to carry books will bring down the usage of plastic carry bags. Our aim is to increase the use of jute bags for environmental causes,” Publishers & Booksellers Guild Honorary General Secretary Sudhangshu Sekhar Dey told businessline.
Dey said the Guild has asked all the publishers and booksellers not to use single-use plastic items and plastic carry bags thinner than 120 microns. “Use of jute bags for carrying books is not high as these bags are costly compared to plastic carry bags. We have urged the National Jute Board to set the jute bag prices relatively low at the fairground,” he said.
The National Jute Board is sponsoring as many as 16 stalls to sell jute bags this year. “Like previous years, we are sponsoring these SME organisations which manufacture jute bags. Buyers of these jute bags will get the items at much lesser prices as subsidies are included here under different schemes,” said Jute Commissioner M.C. Chakrabortty.
“There is no ban on using plastic carry bags having more than 120 microns thickness. But it is still harmful to the environment. So, we are urging book lovers to use jute bags to carry the books they buy. As reusability of a jute bag is much more, its overall cost becomes much lesser,” Chakrabortty said.
During the 47th International Kolkata Book Fair, around 1000 book publishers and sellers are expected to participate. Around 20 countries from across the world will be participating with the UK being the theme country this time.
“Bangladesh is a major participant in this year’s book fair. As many as 71 publishers from Bangladesh are participating. English-language book publishers from across India are joining. All the major national and international publishing houses are coming,” Publishers & Booksellers Guild President Tridib Kumar Chatterjee told businessline.
Chatterjee said this time the fair will have around 100 more book stalls compared to last year. “Last year, books worth Rs 25 crore were sold, which was around 10 per cent higher compared to the previous year. We expect 10 per cent higher business this year compared to last year,” he said.
Last year, the book fair witnessed footfalls of around 26 lakh.
