Cyclone Amphan Impact: Presidency University students to raise funds to support booksellers

Presidency University students have decided to raise funds to reconstruct the ‘boi para’ (book mart) which was destroyed during the Cyclone Amphan.

Students of Presidency University have come forward to raise funds also with the institute's publication society to help the cyclone-ravaged booksellers of College Street.

The fund raised by the Presidency University students will be used to reconstruct the ‘boi para’ (book mart) and help booksellers to get back to their feet.

College Street, a 2-km stretch in central Kolkata, houses hundreds of bookstalls. On May 20, Cyclone 'Amphan' which tore through West Bengal, flattened many such stalls, with books left floating in the waterlogged lane -- the images of which have gone viral on social media.

“We were moved to tears after seeing images of books floating on the flooded street, as the stall owners watched helplessly. Nothing could be damaging than a calamity striking in the midst of a lockdown. After deliberations, the members of the council decided to approach classmates and other well-wishers for monetary help. The university’s publication society also came on board,” one of the students said.

The losses incurred by the booksellers in the state due to the cyclone run into crores, the apex body of publishers, and booksellers said. It has decided to request the state and central governments and different consulates in the city to come to the aid of the booksellers.

“We have named the initiative Boi Parar Pase Presidency- Pase thakun apnio (Presidency stands by the book hub of College Street -- Need your support, too). College Street has always been the first choice of students when it came to book-hunting. So many of us have borrowed reference books from these stall owners by paying a nominal amount when we ran out of money. It’s time to do our bit,” another student said.