Mexican author Jorge Volpi inaugurates Kolkata Book Fair

The world's largest non-trade book fair, the 34th Kolkata Book Fair, was inaugurated Monday by well-known Mexican writer Jorge Luis Volpi Escalante.

Speaking on the occasion, Volpi said the fair, which has Mexico as the theme nation, will help improve ties between the two countries.

'It is an honour to be a part of the Kolkata Book fair. It will help improve ties between the two countries as they share a rich cultural heritage,' said Volpi, who hammered the gong to inaugurate the fair that will continue till Feb 7.

West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee lashed out at environmentalists for forcing the fair venue to be shifted from the Maidan, in the heart of the city, to the Milan Mela on the Eastern Metropolitan Bypass.

The fair was held in the Maidan for 30 years till 2006.

'We are concerned about our environment but it is very disturbing that so-called green activists of our state demanded that the book fair should be banned at the Maidan.

Actually they wanted to stop the age old prestigious book fair which has been part and parcel of Bengali culture.

'But it is really encouraging that the Publishers and Book sellers Guild arranged an alternative ground at the Milan Mela Ground for hosting it,' said Bhattacharjee.

In January 2007, when the Calcutta High Court did not allow the fair to be held at the Maidan, a vast stretch of green in the heart of the city, on environmental grounds, the organisers shifted it to the Salt Lake stadium.

From last year, it is being held at the Milan Mela ground.

Kolkata Book fair has been a part of Bengal's culture since its inception in 1976. It is a unique book fair meant primarily for the general public rather than wholesale distributors and is the largest of its kind in Asia. It is the world's third largest annual conglomeration of books after the Frankfurt Book Fair and the London Book Fair.