Friday, January 14 2005 12:03 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Sagar Island (WB): An estimated 1.5-lakh pilgrims have arrived, much less than last year, at this tiny island in the Bay of Bengal on the eve of Makar Sankranti festival to take holy dip at dawn, officials said.

The Tsunami disaster in the southern coast and in the Andaman and Nicobar islands could be the reason of the low turnout, which was far less than last year's figure of about 3.5 lakh, officials said.

The pilgrims hailed from different States including Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Gujarat besides West Bengal.

Seventeen pickpockets were arrested by police, SP S N Gupta said.

The administration had made elaborate arrangements for the pilgrims and appealed to them not to pay heed to any rumour and not to be swayed away by tsunami panic.

''We have made adequate security arrangements for all pilgrims and there is nothing to panic'', he said.