Wed Oct 15 05:22:49 UTC 2025: **Summary of Text:**
College Street, Kolkata, the world’s largest book market, suffered significant losses due to heavy flooding on September 23rd, 2025. Publishers and booksellers, still reeling from the damage after the Durga Puja holidays, estimate the losses at around ₹2 crore, including books, paper, and materials. Smaller publishers are particularly affected, losing Durga Puja releases. Dasgupta and Co., Kolkata’s oldest bookstore, reported losses of ₹40 lakh. The incident has sparked concern over the lack of government support and the need for improved drainage. Despite the disaster, the literary community has shown solidarity, with readers offering support and writers raising funds.
**News Article:**
**Kolkata’s College Street Book Market Drenched, Publishers Face Crores in Losses**
**Kolkata, October 15, 2025** – Kolkata’s historic College Street, renowned as the world’s largest book market, is grappling with the aftermath of severe flooding that occurred on September 23rd, 2025. Heavy rains inundated the area, leaving publishers and booksellers submerged in water and losses totaling an estimated ₹2 crore.
The disaster struck just before the Durga Puja holidays, leaving businesses scrambling to recover as employees return to assess the damage. Tridib Chatterjee of Publishers & Booksellers Guild, which has been impacted to the tune of ₹9 lakh, reported significant losses not only to bound books but also to crucial materials like paper and cover jackets.
“Fire and water — they are like Mahishasura for books,” lamented Subhankar Dey of Dey’s Publishing, a prominent Bengali publisher, estimating the firm’s losses between ₹8 and ₹9 lakh. “This was something else. College Street is used to problems, sometimes water, sometimes termites, and eventually comes out of it.”
Smaller publishers, who lost freshly printed Durga Puja releases, are facing an even more devastating blow. Sukanya Mondal, CEO of Deep Prakashan, stated the firm’s damage amounts to ₹3 lakh, after losing over 1,000 books in the flooding.
Dasgupta and Co., the city’s oldest bookstore, reported losses upwards of ₹40 lakh, including rare books, documents, and equipment. Managing Director Arabinda Dasgupta criticized the perceived lack of government support, stating, “No government official visited Boipara even once… This behaviour towards the education hub of the city depicts a seriously condemnable image of the government.”
The flooding has also sparked calls for improved infrastructure. Writer Amar Mitra urged the State Government to address the area’s drainage issues and provide relief to struggling publishers.
Despite the devastation, the literary community has rallied in support. Young writers have raised over ₹5.5 lakh for struggling publishers, and readers have expressed solidarity online, offering to purchase damaged books at discounted prices. “We are often told that Bengali readers are switching to English, but that’s clearly not true if you look at the support,” remarked Gaurav Adhikari, associated with a publishing firm.
Santanu Ghosh, partner at Book Farm, whose firm sustained losses exceeding ₹1 lakh, expressed the collective sentiment: “Nothing can be worse than the sight of bookshops being submerged in water. Even seniors in the business said they had never seen anything like this.”
The recovery for College Street will be a long and arduous process, but the enduring spirit of Kolkata’s literary community offers a glimmer of hope in the face of this unprecedented challenge.
First Piper 