Book fair a crowd-puller,parking woes,entry prove a setback

A word of advice for those who intend to make a beeline for the World Book Fair at Pragati Maidan over the next one week use the Metro to get there and back.

Written by Mandakini Gahlot
New Delhi | February 1, 2010 05:38 AM IST

3 min read

A word of advice for those who intend to make a beeline for the World Book Fair at Pragati Maidan over the next one week use the Metro to get there and back. With parking facilities around Pragati Maidan greatly overused,many who drove to the fair on Sunday had to resort to parking miles away from the venue. I thought I could park at the Supreme Court parking lot,or near the Metro. Both were packed,so I finally found parking somewhere near Gate 1. Took me about half an hour to just figure out the parking scene, said advertising executive Mrinalini Dutta. The joy of going through the books on offer was dampened after she had to make the long trek from the parking spot to Gate number 10 for entry,she claimed.

That is the other thing visitors can only buy tickets and enter through Gate numbers 2 and 10. For those using the Metro,Gate number 10 is the closest and most convenient. Just two entry gates,each on different ends of Pragati Maidan a vast complex – are just not enough. The organisers really ought to think of more entry points, Dutta added.

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Even after one has managed to find one of the two gates,there is the endlessly confusing layout of the book fair to deal with. With 2,400 stalls and 1,119 participants,including those from 15 foreign countries,the fair is a truly mammoth affair. Despite the best efforts of both the India Trade Promotion Organisation and the National Book Trust to have signages at every nook and corner,it is easy to get lost. I have been walking around and there are no signages to indicate where a certain hall is,or which publishers are in a particular hall. Its all very confusing, said Ramesh Jain from Manohar Publications.

While the lack of organisation can be a tad overwhelming,keep an eye out for NBTs information desks that are spread out across the length and breadth of Pragati Maidan. Alternatively,you could also buy a book that lists out details of publishers and the halls they are in at a nominal price from the information desks.

While ITPO is yet to get down to the business of computing the number of visitors on inaugural day,it was clear thousands were thronging to the fair. Families with children in tow were lounging in the lawns,as were groups of students. Halls were packed with visitors. Some of the stalls that saw a large number of visitors were Penguin,Hatchette,Rave Media,Roli books,Harper Collins and Rupa. The German stalls attracted large crowds as well.