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Blockade dampens book fair prospects

Staff Correspondent
**8Spacious, well-organised stalls
Political violence discouraging visitors
Publishers worry about sales**
For the first time in many years, the spacious and well laid out grounds of the Amar Ekushey Granthamela offer booklovers a congenial environment to browse through their favourite volumes before making purchase decisions.
Ten publishers including Anya, University Press Limited, Somoy, Agamee and Ananya which draw considerable crowds were given separate pavilions.
"Since an architect designed the layout of the fair grounds for the first time this year, the stall placement has been well-organised, so much so that visitors can move around freely," Farid Ahmed, publisher of Somoy, told The Daily Star.
" Because of the pavilions, buyers can now check the book
before purchase, " he said, mentioning the seating arrangements for visitors on Suhrawardy Udyan.
However, Sanjoy Majumder, publisher of Murdhonno, said the Udyan portion where all the stalls of major publication houses were located was not lighted up sufficiently.
"Most of the lighting and decorations have been done on the Bangla Academy portion. For a newcomer entering the fair from TSC or Doyel Chattar, it
would be difficult to understand that the main fair is taking place at the park," he said.
Cultural Affairs Minister Asaduzzaman Noor too felt the need to add more lights on Suhrawardy Udyan, after visiting the grounds as well as the nearby Muktamancha Sunday.
"The light inside the fair boundary is adequate but we should install more lights in the surrounding areas and on walkways leading to the main grounds," he said.
This year, six toilets inside the fair grounds along with 23 near the Muktamancha were opened for visitors, said Altaf Hossain, secretary of Bangla Academy.
Despite all the facilities, publishers are worried about sales.
Majumder said, “Our main customers come from outside Dhaka. They keep a budget to buy books every February. But because of the fear of petrol bomb attacks they cannot come."
Samiul Alam, a physician of Faridpur Medical College, however, came with his wife, son and daughter defying the ongoing blockade and hartal.
"We came to Dhaka for an official task on Saturday in an ambulance, and I brought them along because the fair takes place only once a year," he said.
Poet Aslam Sunny added, "Ekushey is a fair of our souls which teaches us never to give in or accept defeat That's why people are visiting, defying the fear of petrol bombs."
Meanwhile, the sales at the five Bangla Academy stalls between February 1 and 7 show a hopeful picture, increasing to Tk 22.61 lakh from Tk 20.81 lakh in 2014. In all, 129 new books arrived yesterday, while seven were launched.