Mangaluru (PTI): The Mangaluru division of Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) has organised a package tour for the Mangaluru Dasara darshan, which will cover nine major temples in Dakshina Kannada district.

The state-run transport body will operate a one-day tour package on all days of the Navaratri festival from September 26 to October 5.

Tourists and pilgrims may book tickets and visit prominent temples of the coastal district during Navaratri, divisional controller Rajesh Shetty said in a release on Thursday.

As part of the tour package, the bus will take passengers to Mangaladevi temple, Polali Sri Rajarajeshwari temple, Sunkadakatte Sri Ambika Annapoorneshwari temple at Gurupura, Kateel Sri Durgaparameshwari temple, Bappanadu Sri Durgaparameshwari temple, Sasihithlu Sri Bhagavathi temple and beach.

It will also go to Chitrapura Sri Durgaparameshwari temple, Urwa Sri Mariyamma temple and Kudroli Sri Gokarnanatha temple where the idols of Navadurga are installed as part of the Mangaluru Dasara festival.

The fare for adults will be Rs 300 and Rs 250 for children, he said.

Shetty said the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JnNURM) Nagara Sarige buses will be used for the package tour.

He said it is for the first time that KSRTC is introducing such a package for the convenience of tourists and devotees, who throng the district during the Navaratri festival.

The one-day tour, from 8 am to 8.30 pm, will start from the KSRTC bus stand. The corporation plans to operate more than one bus per day depending on the response from people, he said.

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Ratlam, Mar 7 (PTI): A half-naked man with a toilet (colostomy) bag around his waist and a nasal tube stood outside a private hospital in Ratlam in Madhya Pradesh and accused doctors of seeking Rs 1 lakh for treating him, allegations which the management of the medical facility denied.

A video of the man venting his frustration outside the hospital on Monday went viral on social media, after which the state health department ordered an inquiry.

According to officials, Bunty Ninama, a resident of Moti Nagar, Ratlam, was initially admitted to the Government Hospital attached to the Medical College after being injured in a brawl in Deendayal Nagar police station limits on Sunday night before being shifted to GD Hospital.

Eyewitnesses said he created ruckus outside the hospital on Monday and then left from there in an autorickshaw along with his wife.

His wife told reporters that she was given to believe that her husband was in coma.

"We had already spent Rs 40,000 within 12 hours of admission at the hospital. I then left to arrange for more money. However, when I returned, my husband, who doctors said was in coma, was standing outside in an irate condition," she alleged.

Following the incident, Chief Medical and Health Officer (CMHO) Dr MS Sagar told reporters he had formed a three-member team to probe the issue.

Denying Ninama's allegations, the hospital management in a statement said the total bill of the patient, who was admitted in the ICU, was just Rs 8,000.

The claim of the hospital demanding extra money was baseless, the statement added.