Visva-Bharati is looking at holding this year's Pous Mela for six days, starting from December 23, at the Purba Pally fairground.

A senior university official said at a meeting on Tuesday of various Pous Mela stakeholders, headed by acting vice-chancellor Binoy Kumar Saren, it was mooted that the fair would be a six-day event.

However, Saren did not "formally" spell out the number of days on Tuesday. "We have already confirmed that we will organise the fair this year (for the first time after 2019). We will formally announce the duration of the fair once we hold a meeting with state government officials and other stakeholders," said Saren.

A source said preliminary talks with the state government for the latter's assistance, particularly for security and traffic management in Santiniketan during the Pous Mela days, had taken place.

"We will convene a formal meeting with the state administration on this matter soon," the source added.

The fair, which was organised last year by the state government, also lasted six days.

On November 13, Visva-Bharati announced that it would organise Pous Mela this December after a five-year hiatus, taking the lead this time instead of allowing the state government to manage it.

Despite the Santiniketan Trust — a body established by Rabindranath Tagore’s father, Debendranath Tagore, who started the fair in 1894 — being the official organiser of the annual fair, Visva-Bharati plays the prime role in organising the event due to the Trust’s limited manpower and infrastructure.

The fair was last hosted by its traditional organisers in 2019 but could not be held in 2020 and 2021 due to the Covid-19 pandemic. In 2022, the then-vice-chancellor Bidyut Chakraborty cited infrastructure limitations as the reason for not organising the fair, creating discontent among residents in Santiniketan.

On Tuesday, environmentalist Subhas Datta and representatives of the local traders' association attended the meeting called by Visva-Bharati.

Datta asked Saren to adopt an environment-friendly theme for this year's Pous Mela and requested him to ensure all regulations issued by the NGT in 2017 were complied with during the prestigious fair.

The NGT had appointed Datta, West Bengal Pollution Control Board chairperson Kalyan Rudra, and former advocate-general Jayanta Mitra as members of the monitoring committee responsible for ensuring the Pous Mela adhered to all environmental norms.

The norms include keeping a tab on pollution and winding up the fair within 48 hours of its official closure.

"I attended today's meeting regarding this year's Pous Mela and submitted my suggestions. Along with the two other members, I will monitor the fair to ensure it complies with all environmental norms," Datta told The Telegraph.

Representatives of traders and artisans were also present at the meeting on Tuesday.