Just as the famous book town, fondly christened boipara in Bangla, of College Street in Kolkata was attempting to pick up the threads of normal business (albeit unsurely), post a torturous 60-day COVID-19-induced lockdown, came cyclone Amphan and badly shook the confidence of thousands of publishers and booksellers doing business in the area.
A locality, that sees a daily turnover of a few million rupees under normal circumstances, gradually went dry and hungry post-March 24, 2020, the day a nationwide lockdown was announced to counter the spread of COVID-
19.

But before our boipara could get over its lockdown woes and lurch back to
“normal” on May 21, 2020 (the day business was allowed to resume),
Amphan’s arrival on May 20, 2020, further weakened the backbone of the industry of physical books increasingly imperilled by more sophisticated
counterparts e.g. e-books, audiobooks, legitimate PDFs.
The fierce, six-hour-long storm washed many bookstalls away, damaging
numerous invaluable pieces of literature. At present, the smaller players in boipara are gasping for breath, and desperately looking for assistance to
keep their businesses afloat. College Street boipara, featured among the
famous landmarks of India, needs your contribution to survive. Donations
will go towards helping small publishers and booksellers with:
1. Rebuilding shops
2. Replenishing destroyed stocks
3. Generating sales orders online as well as offline
4. Organizing virtual exhibitions and book fairs
5. Providing essentials for basic human sustenance
6. Helping with ensuring stocks and establishments
7. Supporting with legal help, if need be