page_title: Maidan (Kolkata)
section_title: Book fair controversy
hierarchical_section_title: Maidan (Kolkata) / Events / Book fair controversy
caption_attribution_description: English: The Maidan is bounded on the west by the Hoogly and the east by Chowringhee. It is nearly 2 miles long and 1 1/4 miles broad.
context_page_description: The Maidan, also referred to as the Brigade Parade Ground, is the largest urban park in Kolkata in the Indian state of West Bengal. It is a vast stretch of field that includes numerous play grounds, including the famous cricketing venue Eden Gardens, several football stadiums and the Kolkata Race Course. The Maidan is dotted with statues and architectural works, the most notable being the Victoria Memorial. Due to the freshness and greenery it provides to the metropolis, it has been referred to as the "lungs of Kolkata". The property of the Indian Army, the Maidan hosts the army's Eastern zone high command in Fort William. The Maidan stretches from the Raj Bhavan building on the Esplanade in the north to the National Library on Belvedere Road in Alipore in the south. The wide field stretches from the Hooghly River in the west to the Victoria Memorial in the east. It is a historical and cultural center of Kolkata as well as a center of leisure and entertainment for Calcuttans.
context_section_description: In 2005, The Statesman, a leading Kolkata newspaper wrote,
  The Kolkata Book Fair may well have had its last outing on the Maidan… In recent years, almost every part of the Maidan has been used to host all manners of melas and fairs. This, obviously, can't continue… Our courts of justice are now taking cognizance. The military too has woken up to its environmental responsibility. Even business houses have apparently become concerned. At this rate, it might seem the lungs of Kolkata, and of the people who inhabit it, still have some hope.
caption: The Maidan, c. 1905
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