The defence ministry has cleared a proposal to set up a Bazi Bazar at the Shahid Minar ground, which is part of the Maidan, from October 31 to November 15 with a set of conditions.
The green light has raised concerns among green activists who have pointed out that all fairs have been barred from the Maidan.
“Grant of permission to Burrabazar Fire Works Dealer’s Association Kolkata (is given), for holding a Bazi Bazar 2023 at Shahid Minar Grounds at Kolkata Maidan from 31.10.2023 to 15.11.2023,” reads the letter issued on Friday by Asutosh Kumar, deputy director (lands-1), Union defence ministry, on Friday.
A copy of the ministry’s letter is with The Telegraph.
The order has spelt out several conditions for holding the fare, including “there shall be no environmental and other degradations of the land”.
“We have received the permission and we expect to start the fair around November 6,” Santanu Dutta, joint secretary of the Burrabazar Fireworks Dealers’ Association, told this newspaper on Saturday afternoon.
“Mainly green fireworks from Sivakasi will be sold in around 30 shops.”
Wing commander Himanshu Tiwari, chief public relations officer, ministry of defence, Kolkata, said: “We received the requisition for Bazi Bazar from the state ministry of micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME) and forwarded that to the ministry of defence, who has the onus to take the final call.”
Environment activist Subhas Datta said the permission violates high court orders.
“This permission amounts to a violation of high court orders that led to the shifting of the book fair and other fairs from the Maidan a few years ago on environmental grounds.”
Datta explained that the shift of fairs from the Maidan was critical because they impacted the Maidan and the Victoria Memorial, according to studies by the National Environmental Engineering Research Institute (NEERI).
“When we have a permanent fairground like Milan Mela, why do we need to organise this fireworks fair on the Maidan?”
According to the NEERI report, the footfall of thousands at fairs leads to the creation of a dust bowl that affects people and monuments, especially in the cooler months from November to February when the city’s air quality is poorer than other times of the year.
“We demand that the permission be withdrawn,” said Naba Dutta, of the NGO Sabuj Mancha.
“We will discuss the issue with the legal team on Monday to decide our course of action regarding monitoring,” a state pollution control board official said.
A fireworks trader said: “Why this hue and cry now? We had organised the fare at the Shahid Minar ground earlier as well.”
In 2018, the Bazi Bazar had to be shifted from the Shahid Minar ground to Vivekananda Park as the army had denied permission. The fair returned to the Maidan in 2019.
No fireworks fair was held on the Maidan after 2019 because of the pandemic.