UNB, Dhaka :
The month-long ‘Amar Ekushey Boi Mela’ came to an end on Wednesday with both visitors and sellers expressing their satisfaction with this year’s overall management, including security.
According to many visitors, the various facilities were friendlier than previous years. They said water, sitting arrangements, washroom, mobile payment system and
wheelchair facilities were satisfactory this time.
Meanwhile, the book fair bagged a turnover of about Tk 80 crore from book sales with a record 4,590 books hitting the fair in entire February, said Bangla Academy sources.
Hazera Begum, a 40-year-old woman who visited the fair with her daughter, said the overall management and security was better this year. “This time, more sitting arrangements were available than any previous occasion while food and drinking water facilities were also commendable,” she said.
Nazmul Hossain, a student of Dhaka University, told UNB that this year, the stall arrangement was much better. “It was easier to go around the book stalls without much hassle,” he said.
Tanvir Ahmed from Mawla Brothers said though the fair did not see a huge rush of visitors as expected in the first few days, it drew huge crowds later.
After February 14, the sales of books saw a rise, Masud Rana from Absar Publishers said, adding that the fair was dull in its initial days due to political unrest.
Meanwhile, a few sellers complained about the electricity facilities, saying they used to get power after 4:30pm although the fair started at 3pm every day except holidays.
“We provide our customers with digital receipts and keep data of every purchase. It would have been better had the Bangla Academy provided electricity to the stalls from the beginning of the day,” Md Nurul Nabi, manager of Bangla Prakash, told UNB.
Yet the most relieving part for many was that the fair ended without any hassle or unwanted incident.
Mosharraf Hossain, a police officer in-charge of the book fair control room, told UNB that there was a three-tier security arrangement in place at the book fair venue – on the Bangla Academy premises and at nearby Suhrawardy Udyan.
The month-long ‘Amar Ekushey Boi Mela’ came to an end on Wednesday with both visitors and sellers expressing their satisfaction with this year’s overall management, including security.
According to many visitors, the various facilities were friendlier than previous years. They said water, sitting arrangements, washroom, mobile payment system and
wheelchair facilities were satisfactory this time.
Meanwhile, the book fair bagged a turnover of about Tk 80 crore from book sales with a record 4,590 books hitting the fair in entire February, said Bangla Academy sources.
Hazera Begum, a 40-year-old woman who visited the fair with her daughter, said the overall management and security was better this year. “This time, more sitting arrangements were available than any previous occasion while food and drinking water facilities were also commendable,” she said.
Nazmul Hossain, a student of Dhaka University, told UNB that this year, the stall arrangement was much better. “It was easier to go around the book stalls without much hassle,” he said.
Tanvir Ahmed from Mawla Brothers said though the fair did not see a huge rush of visitors as expected in the first few days, it drew huge crowds later.
After February 14, the sales of books saw a rise, Masud Rana from Absar Publishers said, adding that the fair was dull in its initial days due to political unrest.
Meanwhile, a few sellers complained about the electricity facilities, saying they used to get power after 4:30pm although the fair started at 3pm every day except holidays.
“We provide our customers with digital receipts and keep data of every purchase. It would have been better had the Bangla Academy provided electricity to the stalls from the beginning of the day,” Md Nurul Nabi, manager of Bangla Prakash, told UNB.
Yet the most relieving part for many was that the fair ended without any hassle or unwanted incident.
Mosharraf Hossain, a police officer in-charge of the book fair control room, told UNB that there was a three-tier security arrangement in place at the book fair venue – on the Bangla Academy premises and at nearby Suhrawardy Udyan.
