Thousands throng for fish prasadam

Thousands throng for fish prasadam 23,000 Take Fingerlings On First Day; Mela To Continue Till Today Afternoon TIMES NEWS NETWORK  Hyderabad: Thousands thronged the fish prasadam mela at Exhibition Grounds that started on Saturday afternoon. Asthma patients from across the country and abroad started queuing up for the tokens right from early hours of Saturday and by 8pm around 23,000 murrel fingerlings were sold. Vegetarians are given the same medicine mixed in jaggery.     No untoward incident was reported unlike last year when a person died in the stampede that also left several injured at Katedan. Elaborate arrangements were made for the 24-hour event that was guarded by 800 policemen and would continue till Sunday afternoon. The event is held on the occasion of Mrigasira Karti every year.     While the number of people seeking this traditional remedy for asthma has been dipping over the last few years with some officials saying that the recent court case further contributed to the fall in numbers this year, Saturday saw several patients who travelled long distances from across the country seeking the ‘miracle cure’ for asthma. Among the fish medicine seekers were people from Delhi, Maharashtra, West Bengal, Rajasthan, Karnataka, Chhattisgarh, Jammu, Bhopal and UP.     “I took fish prasadam for three consecutive years and was cured. Ever since, I have been getting my friends and relatives who suffer from asthma to Hyderabad every year,” said R B Diamond, who came all the way from Korba, Chhattisgarh, along with seven members this time including four children suffering from asthma. “Many children cannot study properly because of asthma,” said Diamond, who is a teacher.     Saleem Bagwani, 60, from Pune travelled with his wife. Unable to stand in the long queue, Saleem, a severe asthmatic, was waiting in the shed for the crowd to thin to take the fish prasadam for the first time. “We stood in the queue for tokens for several hours from 8am,” said a breathless Saleem.     S G Koti, a driver with the road transport corporation hailing from Athani, Belgaum (Karnataka) got 15 people including eight women battling asthma in the hope of getting a cure. “I took the prasadam for three years and I don’t need to depend on inhalers and medication anymore,” said Koti, adding that before taking the fish prasadam, his monthly expenditure for the illness was around Rs 500 and but now he does not spend anything. According to Koti, from Athani alone three truck-load of people came to Hyderabad for the fish prasadam.     Tulasi Ram from Ghaziabad, who brought along his asthmatic son-in-law, was all praise for the arrangements at the venue. “Last year, we faced lot of problems at Katedan. This year, the arrangements are good,” said Ram.     Exhibition Society members said with the AP High Court quashing the Lokayukta order, they are not sure whether Bathini family would need to pay the rent of Rs 2.69 lakh.     Meanwhile, several NGOs and the water board ensured availability of food and water to make the stay of the people comfortable. District health officials, who deployed medical teams at the venue, said two asthmatics who developed complications were referred to Gandhi Hospital on Saturday.     “The event passed off smoothly. Compared to last year, there are more people this year. People from Middle East, UK and US have also come this year,” claimed Bathini Harinath Goud from the Bathini family that administers the fish prasadam