Cyclone Amphan wipes out Asia’s largest book market, College Street, in Kolkata

• Books worth ₹60 lakh were found either torn or wet all over College Street, Asia’s largest book market, as per current estimates.
  
• A number of booksellers were seen picking up the damaged books from the flooded street in Kolkata after cyclone Amphan destroyed the market.
  
• Many of the booksellers have decided to open a grocery shop after the lockdown ends.
  

Kolkata’s historic College Street, Asia’s largest book market, was flooded with muddy water and battered books for over a day after an extremely severe cyclone Amphan passed through the city on May 20.

More than 5,000 trees, along with a few hundred electric posts, traffic signals and police kiosks have been uprooted in and around Kolkata. The death toll due to cyclone Amphan in West Bengal has risen to 77 as authorities are busy restoring the normal life thrown out of gear by the region's worst weather disasters.

Here is the look at what’s left of College Street, also known as Boi Choi, in Kolkata:

Boi Para, popularly known as College Street, is a long 1.5 kilometre market with a huge collection of books. Books worth ₹60 lakh were found either torn or wet on the street as per current estimates reported Times of India.

A number of booksellers were seen picking up the damaged wet books from the flooded College Street after cyclone Amphan destroyed the market. They intend to dry the books and sell them at a second-hand price.

Avi Sarkar, who sells Boi Choi books online, said many small shops lost their roofs and their books were floating in street water — leaving publishers devastated.



These booksellers were already distressed as shops were closed for nearly two months amid the nationwide coronavirus lockdown. Many booksellers from Boi Choi have now decided to open a grocery shop instead of bookstores, after the lockdown ends.

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