H1N1u00a0fear cuts Navratri queue

At any other time of the year, the Mahalaxmi temple gets an average ofu00a0 10,000 devotees every day on weekdays and 15,000 on Sundays, but during Navratri, the numbers go up to 80,000 on weekdays and a lakh on weekends. This year is expected to be an exception.

50 per cent drop

The temple trustees say they expect the numbers to drop by 50 per cent because of the swine flu threat.
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Tellingly, the number of requests for passes by political parties, which always increase during Navratri, have fallen by 80 per cent because of the election code of conduct. Passes allow the holder to skip the long queues.



Also the passes will only be available from the police and are restricted to VIPs and residents of the area.
Sharadchandra Padhye, a trustee, said the fall in numbers has been obvious over the last two months.

"On Sundays, we get just 9,000 devotees and on weekdays, it's just 6,000. How much more can these figures increase?"

The trustees have also asked people with symptoms of swine flu to refrain from coming to the temple.

For the last 10 years, I have been going to the temple during Navratri and Sundays. Swine fluu00a0 can't stop me.

Ajay C, a devotee