Bengal Govt to appeal to court

Kolkata, Nov 3: The West Bengal government will seek the intervention of Calcutta High Court for continuing the annual Book Fair in the city's maidan area, owned by the Defence.

''The Book Fair is an international event and we want it to be held permanently in the maidan. The government and the publishers' guild will appeal to the High Court so that it can be held in the maidan as in the previous years,'' Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee told reporters.

He said the appeal was in the interest of the city and any environmental problem would be taken care of.

The Book Fair which draws lakhs of people every year, had its venue in the maidan for more than three decades. But the defence raised objection against it on the ground of environment and asked the Publishers and Book Sellers Guild, the organisers to shift the site.

UNI