For 45 minutes at rush hour on Sunday evening, the Calcutta Book Fair stalls were plunged into complete darkness. Visitors were either trapped in the stalls they had entered at 5.30 pm or left waiting on the fair grounds for the lights to return.

With the streetlights lining the stalls switched on five minutes into the blackout and glowing through the dark spell and visitors heeding the organisers’ pleas to not panic, the confusion did not spin out of control.

The office of Kalyan Shah, secretary of the Publishers and Booksellers Guild, was the epicentre of the crisis management moves.

Fire services minister Pratim Chatterjee, who was present in Shah’s chamber when the crisis broke, contacted a CESC official and instructed that “something be done on an emergency basis”.

Sudhangshu Shekhar Dey, ground convener of the Book Fair, held the CESC “solely responsible” for the shock power disruption. “CESC officials told us that an overload caused the power lines to trip,” he said.

A CESC official, however, revealed on condition of anonymity that the power consumption on the fair grounds was exceeding the estimated requirement submitted by the guild.

“The organisers had asked for 1,000 KV, while on Sunday, the consumption shot up to 1,400 KV. As the food stalls are prohibited from lighting stoves, they are probably using electric-powered stoves and heaters. The lighting on the trees may be another cause of the increased power consumption,” he said.

Even after supply was restored, the decorations on the trees remained dark, as the authorities tried to cut down on the power consumed. And more measures must be taken.

“We are holding talks with CESC to ensure some alternative measures of power supply at the fair,” said Dey.

But some bookstalls were left counting their losses after the brief blackout. Pinaki Majumdar of Deb Sahitya Kutir said: “We have suffered a loss of at least Rs 35,000 because of the power cut. And several books were stolen.”

Kalyani Ghosh of Thema, a stall just opposite the guild office, said: “We expect the authorities to make provisions for handling an emergency. There should be an alternative power supply arrangement to avoid a disaster.”