Coronavirus: C'garh's Maa Bamleshwari Temple fair cancelled

The nine-day long religious fair

held at the famous Maa Bamleshwari Temple in Dongargarh town of Chhattisgarh's Rajnandgaon district has been cancelled in view of the novel coronovirus threat, officials said on Monday.

So far no confirmed case of novel coronavirus has been reported in the state.

The fair scheduled to be held during the 'Chaitra Navratri' festival starting from March 25 at the hilltop temple in Dongargarh and other places in Rajnandgaon district have been cancelled, an official here said.

Bamleshwari temple at Dongargarh, 110 km away from the state capital Raipur, is a popular pilgrimage spot and attracts several lakh devotees during Navratri festivals observed twice in a year.

 

Ropeway services at Dongargarh will be suspended from March 17 onwards till further orders, and shops set up on the stairs of the hilltop temple will remain closed, he said.

Devotees will be allowed to visit the temple wearing masks, while persons suffering from cold and cough will be permitted to visit only after medical screening.

According to health officials here, reports of 10 samples received on Monday and all returned negative.

"In Chhattisgarh, a total of 89 samples were sent for testing till Monday, of which, 77 returned negative while reports of five are awaited," a health official here said.

Besides, samples of seven others were rejected by the nodal laboratory as they did not fit the criteria of suspected patients as per the guidelines of the Indian Council of Medical Research, he said.

All schools, colleges, universities, anganwadi child care centres, public libraries, swimming pools, cinema halls, multiplexes, water parks and gyms in the state have been closed till March 31 to prevent the spread of the virus.