Organizers of firecracker fair in Kolkata looking for new location

Two other fireworks fairs at Tallah in north Kolkata and Behala in the city's southern fringe would be open from November 1.

With a few days to go for the Kalipuja and Diwali festivities, organisers of the firecracker fair here are now scouting for a new place as the Army was yet to give its nod to hold it in the Kolkata Maidan where it was being held since 1995.

The Army is the custodian of Maidan, a large open ground in the heart of the city.

The fair is slated to begin from November 1 and the Kalipuja and Diwali would be held on November 6 and 7 respectively. "We are looking for an alternative ground in south Kolkata which will be conveniently located since the consent letter from the Army is yet to arrive," Burrabazar Fireworks Dealers' Association Secretary Chittaranjan Maity said Monday. The association was in touch with the Kolkata Police and Kolkata Municipal Corporation on the issue, Maity told PTI.

The response of Army authorities on the issue could not be ascertained.

The fair began in the Maidan in 1995 and was being held there since then. Only 44 stalls had come up in the fair last year, down from the number of around 150 stalls a couple of years back, Maity said adding that each stall recorded a daily business of Rs 5-6 lakh in the six-day fair last year. Two other fireworks fairs at Tallah in north Kolkata and Behala in the city's southern fringe would be open from November 1.

(With inputs from agencies.)