On Friday, the zilla parishad of South 24 Parganas alleged that the district administration has sidelined them and are single-handedly organising the pilgrimage that draws 5 lakh devotees to the Sagar Islands for a holy dip.

“We have been totally sidelined. Recently, the district administration held a meeting to address the media about the arrangements at the fair but they did not bother to inform us,” said Shamima Sheikh, the sabhadipati of South 24 Paraganas zilla parishad.

The Trinamool leaders at the zilla parishad are arguing that the chairman of the parishad should be the president of the Ganga Sagar Advisory Committee and needs to be consulted in all the administrative decision taken regarding the fair.

The zilla parishad has said that it will not allow the state government to charge any pilgrim fee this time.

According to reports, last year the state government collected Rs 11 lakh as pilgrim fee.

“We are against the tax and if some untoward incident occurs, the state government will be responsible for it,” said Chowdhury Mohan Jatua, the saha sabhadhipati of the zilla parishad.

“We have even asked for documents relating to expenditure of Rs 14 crore that was allocated to the district administration,” said a zilla parishad member.

While the district administration has announced an insurance cover of Rs 20,000 for each pilgrim, the zilla parishad claims that they will provide an insurance of Rs 5 lakh for any causality.

The fair will be held from January 12 to January 15. Earlier, Trinamool chief Mamata Banerjee had accused the district administration of overlooking the elected representatives of the zilla parishad.