Bidhannagar Mela to start from February 21

Kolkata: The Bidhannagar Mela which was postponed due to the Kolkata International Book Fair in Salt Lake is going to start from February 21 and will continue till March 12.

Generally, Bidhannagar Mela Utsav is organised by the Bidhannagar Municipal Corporation (BMC) during December every year. However, due to the book fair having started from January 18, several works needed to be finished before that. To facilitate the set up of stalls for the book fair, the Central Park Mela ground cannot be used for any other purposes. During a board meeting of the BMC, it was decided that the Bidhannagar Mela Utsav will be held after the book fair is over. The BMC has already invited applications from artists for singing, elocution, drama and other cultural programmes during the mela days. It may be mentioned that Bidhannagar Mela which has a nostalgia among the residents of Salt Lake was organised by an NGO during the Left Front regime. After 2011, the fair was organised by the Bidhannagar Municipality. a From 2016, BMC since its formation, continues to organise the fair at the Central Park Mela Ground. Two years ago, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had announced the Central Park Mela Ground as the dedicated ground to organise the International Kolkata Book Fair.